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Conditions with poor resorption of fat from the intestine are frequent in infancy. They include prematurity, acute diarrheal disorders, cystic fibrosis of the pancreas, celiac disease, obstruction of the bile ducts, and icterus gravis.
Hauser's monograph, based on a large amount of clinical and laboratory studies, represents a valuable contribution to the subject. The laboratory methods used by the author include analysis of fat in the stool, determination of pancreas enzymes in the duodenal juice and of trypsin in the stool (gelatine film test), the vitamin A absorption test, and the count of chylomicrons in the blood.
Obstruction of bile flow produces severe impairment of fat resorption. The obstruction may be due to congenital malformation of the bile ducts, to inflammatory diseases of the liver, or to icterus gravis with excessive hemolysis. Differential diagnosis is important, since congenital malformation of the bile ducts requires surgery.
Among the disturbances of fat