Superior vena cava syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: In order to study the clinical profile of children presenting with superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS), case records of all children presenting with SVCS over a 10-year period were retrospectively analyzed. METHODS: Twenty one children (20 males and 1 female) with a median age of 10.0 years (range 5.0 to 12.0 years) were detected to have an underlying hematological malignancy. T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia accounted for a major share (57%) in the underlying etiology; 33% of the subjects had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma). RESULT: No Patient required radiotherapy or urgent thoracotomy. Among survivors (n=11), who were alive and well at the time of writing this report, the median follow-up was 6.5 years, (range 0.5-9.6 years). T-cell ALL and lymphoblastic lymphoma are common underlying causes of SVCS in Indian children. CONCLUSION: The value of diagnostic interventions performed under local anaesthesia and prebiopsy corticosteroids usage was found to be reassuring since long-term survival without disease is achievable.

Blount's disease: a lesser known cause of bowlegs mandating early differentiation from physiological bowing.

We present a 16-month-old child, with progressively increasing bowing of legs, having a normal serum calcium, phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase level; lower limb radiographs revealed bilateral medial tibial metaphyseal beaking. Based on these findings, a diagnosis of Blount's disease (infantile tibia vara) was made and an orthotic management program was instituted for the child.