Management of pediatric blunt abdominal trauma with split liver or spleen injuries: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Blunt abdominal trauma is a prevailing cause of pediatric morbidity and mortality. It constitutes the most frequent type of pediatric injuries. Contrast-enhanced sonography (CEUS) and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) are considered pivotal diagnostic modalities in hemodynamically stable patients. AIM: To report the experience in management of pediatric split liver and spleen injuries using CEUS and CECT. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study included 246 children who sustained blunt abdominal trauma, and admitted and treated at three tertiary hospitals in the period of 5 years. Primary resuscitation was offered to all children based on the advanced trauma and life support (ATLS) protocol. A special algorithm for decision-making was followed. It incorporated the FAST, baseline ultrasound (US), CEUS, and CECT. Patients were treated according to the imaging findings and hemodynamic stability. RESULTS: All 246 children who sustained a blunt abdominal were studied. Patients' age was 10.5 ± 2.1. Road traffic accidents were the most common cause of trauma; 155 patients (63%). CECT showed the extent of injury in 153 patients' spleen (62%) and 78 patients' liver (32%), while the remaining 15 (6%) patients had both injuries. CEUS detected 142 (57.7%) spleen injury, and 67 (27.2%) liver injury. CONCLUSIONS: CEUS may be a useful diagnostic tool among hemodynamically stable children who sustained low-to-moderate energy isolated blunt abdominal trauma. It may be also helpful for further evaluation of uncertain CECT findings and follow-up of conservatively managed traumatic injuries.

Accuracy of shear wave elastography in characterization of thyroid nodules in children and adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Thyroid nodules are an important health problem in children and adolescents. They possess a higher risk of malignancy in comparison to adults. This fact forms a great dilemma for clinicians. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability of shear wave elastography (SWE) as a non-invasive technique in the characterization of thyroid nodules in children and adolescents. METHODS: This prospective study included 56 patients with thyroid nodules. All the patients underwent clinical assessment, laboratory investigations, ultrasound, and Doppler examination, followed by an SWE assessment. Statistical analysis was performed and the best cut-off value to differentiate benign from malignant nodules was determined using the ROC curve and AUC. RESULTS: Seventy-two nodules were detected in the examined patients (ages ranged from 11 to 19 years, with mean age of 14.89 ± 2.3 years). Fifty-eight nodules (80.6%) were benign, and fourteen nodules (19.4%) were malignant (histopathologically proved). Highly suspicious criteria for prediction of malignancy by ultrasound and Doppler were hypoechoic echopattern, internal or internal and peripheral vascularity, microcalcifications, taller-than-wide dimensions, irregular outlines, and absence of halo (p < 0.05). The diagnostic performance for their summation was 70.69% sensitivity, 82.8% specificity, 80.45% accuracy, a 63.79% positive predictive value (PPV), and 87.9% negative predictive values (NPV). Regarding SWE, our results showed that 42.2 kPa was the best cut-off value, with AUC = 0.921 to differentiate malignant from benign nodules; the diagnostic performance was 85.71% sensitivity, 94.83% specificity, 93.06% accuracy, 76.9% PPV, and 93.2% NPV. CONCLUSION: Shear wave elastography is a non-invasive technique that can assist in the diagnosis of malignant thyroid nodules among children and adolescents.

Nature and outcome of malignant goiter: a revisit.

INTRODUCTION: the aim of this retrospective study is to review patients with malignant goiter, as regards their nature, demographic characterization, clinical presentation and preoperative histopathological data. METHODS: the study focused on a period of 4 years from December 2015 to January 2019. Patients´ demographic data, clinical presentation, Intra-operative findings, Pre and postoperative histopathological staging and grading were all recorded. Postoperative follow up whether early or late were also included. RESULTS: a total of 100% (n = 65) patients underwent surgery. The female to male ratio was found to be 5:1 (48 females and 17 males). Solitary nodule was the main clinical presentation in 80% (n = 52) of cases while 20% (n = 13) were multinodular swellings. Papillary carcinoma was recorded in 80% (n = 52) of patients while in 15.4% (n =10) of patients were having follicular carcinoma. The remaining 4.6% (n = 3) suffered of lymphoma; no medullary or anaplastic tumors were reported. CONCLUSION: thyroid cancer is the most commonly encountered endocrinal malignancy at our institute. Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) showed a high percentage of reliability in diagnosing thyroid cancer among our series. It is recommended to adapt this technique in initial screening of goiter patients in our local setting.

Laparoscopy as a Primary Investigatory Tool in Pediatric Abdominal Masses.

BACKGROUND: Management of abdominal masses still pose a major challenge for pediatrician and surgeons with many controversy as regards the best investigatory tools. AIM OF THE WORK: This study was designated to evaluate the role of diagnostic laparoscopy in investigating equivocal pediatric masses that had undergone other imaging modalities. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A combined prospective and retrospective multicenter study over a period of 12 years from January 2005 to December 2016 was undertaken. This study included all children aged from 3 months to 15 years. Those having a documented diagnosis through other imaging modalities such as sonographic and/or computed tomography (CT) guided biopsy were excluded. All patients underwent multiport diagnostic laparoscopy for biopsy of the mass. All specimens were histologically assessed basically using Hematoxylin and Eosin (H and E) staining; some specimens had been immunohistochemically studied. RESULTS: One hundred and thirty-two patients were recruited in the study. They were 69 males and 63 females with a male to female ratio of1.1:1. The age ranged from 3 months up to 15 years with the mean age of 2.7 ± 0.8 years. Out of the total studied group, 54 patients were diagnosed with neuroblastoma (40.9%), while 66 (50%) were having nephroblastoma. The remaining 12 (9.1%) were having non-Hodgkin's abdominal lymphoma. Not all patients showed any complication related to the procedure. The mean follow up period was 3.6 years. Most of the cases (n=121) despite having a different diagnosis, were clinically staged as grade I to grade II (91.7%). Neither intraoperative nor postoperative complications were recorded during this technique. The mean operative time was 72 mins ± 20 in the earliest group; yet, it has declined to be 32 ± 12 minutes in the latest group due to the advancement of the learning curve. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopy is accurate and safe for investigating pediatric solid abdominal masses. It should be used as the sole tool for biopsy of solid abdominal tumors in pediatrics.

Initial Surgery in Tailoring Treatment for Children With Stage II and III Wilms' Tumor: An Experience From Resource Challenged Settings.

BACKGROUND: Although Wilms' tumor (WT) is ranked first among primary childhood's renal neoplasm, controversy still exists regarding the best approach for its management. The study aimed at evaluating the role of initial surgery in treatment of stage II and III pediatric WT as a part of the short administration schedule as in National Wilms' Tumor Study (NWTS)-4 and evaluating its effectiveness compared to the long administration schedule. METHODS: The study included 30 children who were primarily diagnosed as stage II and III WT. They were divided into two equal groups. Group I (n = 15) included those children who had undergone neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery and postoperative chemotherapy, while group II (n = 15) included those children who had undergone primary surgery as an initial management followed by chemotherapy. After a mean postoperative follow-up period of 14 ± 5 months, clinical and radiological evaluation was performed to all patients. RESULTS: In group I, 10 patients were preoperatively diagnosed as stage II and five patients as stage III while in group II, 11 patients were proved to be stage II and four patients were stage III. After a follow-up period, clinical and radiological evaluation using CT was performed to all patients. In patients with stage II, evidence of recurrence was noted in three patients of group I whereas no patient showed any evidence of recurrence in group II. In patients with stage III, rebound increase in size was seen in two patients in group I and only one patient in group II. CONCLUSIONS: Initial surgical intervention with appropriate adjuvant therapy has better outcomes than the neoadjuvant chemotherapy and delayed surgery for children primarily diagnosed as stage II and III WT. Moreover, it may act as a short administration schedule for the treatment as it is not less effective than the long administration schedule and can be administered at a substantially lower total treatment cost.

Parasitic infestation in pediatric and adolescent appendicitis: a local experience.

OBJECTIVE: The relationship between parasites and pediatric appendicitis is a highly debatable issue. This study aims to investigate the role of parasitic infestation in the etiology of acute pediatric appendicitis. METHODS: A retrospective study including 1600 pediatric and adolescent patients who had undergone surgical therapy for a diagnosis of acute appendicitis over a period of ten years from Jan 2001 to Dec 2010. Demographic data were retrieved including the patient's age, sex, clinical data, clinical presentations, laboratory investigations, operative data and pathological findings to identify the presence and type of parasites. Patients were divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of parasites in the appendix lumen. In group I (n: 88), parasitic infestation was observed, whereas in group II (n: 1502), no parasitic infestation was present. RESULTS: Parasites were present in 5.5% (88 patients), and of those 88 parasitic infestations, 45 (51.1%) were Enterobaisis, 8 (9.1%) were Schistosomiasis, 23 (26.1%) were Ascariasis, 7 (8%) Trichuriasis, and 5 (5.7%) were Teania Saginata. The percentage of patients with suppurative, gangrenous or perforated appendicitis was similar in both groups with no statistical significance, irrespective of the presence or absence of parasitic infestation. CONCLUSION: The low prevalence of parasites among the appendectomy specimens did not support the notion that parasites were a major cause of appendicitis in pediatric patients.