Abstract
Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a major health problem in children world wide. For its diagnosis, all the available methods such as clinical surveys, dietary assessment, measurement of serum vitamin A, relative dose response test and determination of liver vitamin A concentration (LVAC) have serious theorical or practical shortcomings. IC is a new non invasive method based on the change of epithelial surface which undergo keratinisation and metaplasia in absence of vitamin A. A millipore paper is grasped with finger on the temporal bulbar conjonctiva during 3 seconds. The paper is removed, pressed on a glass slide for transferring the cells. After fixation and a special short staining, the cells are examined under light microscope. To assess the value of this new method, we applied it to 30 children with liver disease whose LVAC had been determined on liver biopsy. In 22 children with normal LVAC, IC showed numerous goblet cells and small normal epithelial cells. In 8 cholestatic children with VAD, (LVAC < 20 ng/g), IC showed absence of goblet cells and enlarged epithelial cells. The results indicate that IC is a reliable method for detection of VAD based on a simple test: the absence of goblet cells. This may prove useful both for mass surveys in developing countries as well as for control of VAD in children with liver or gastrointestinal disease.
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Amedee-Manesme, O., Luzeau, R. & Carlier, C. 29. IMPRESSION CYTOLOGY (IC): A SIMPLE METHOD FOR DETECTING VITAMIN A DEFICIENCY IN CHILDREN. Pediatr Res 22, 101 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198707000-00050
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198707000-00050