Enterocolitis: prodrome of the hemolytic-uremic syndrome.

Two children presented with ischemic enterocolitis, a prodrome that occurs in 80% or more of patients with the hemolytic-uremic syndrome. When the prodrome precedes the development of characteristic laboratory findings or oliguria, the diagnosis of the hemolytic-uremic syndrome often is delayed. The severity of the enterocolitis itself may overshadow renal impairment. Findings of thumbprinting on plain radiographs or on barium enema examinations allow the radiologist to suggest the hemolytic-uremic syndrome as a possible cause before renal or hematologic abnormalities become manifest.