Radiología pediátrica en Atención Primaria / Pediatric radiology in Primary Care

Revisión y puesta al día de claves de imagen decisivas, según el autor, en patología pulmonar, gastroenterología y sistema musculoesquelético, especialmente significativas por su frecuencia y actualidad (AU)

Revision and update of decisive imaging keys in pulmonary, gastroenterological and musculoskeletal conditions, especially significative for their frequency and present interest (AU)

Large choledochocoele: difficulties in radiological diagnosis.

BACKGROUND: A choledochocoele is a dilatation of the intramural portion of the distal common bile duct within the duodenal wall. It usually presents with recurrent crises of right upper quadrant pain, hyperamylasaemia or jaundice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We present a 12-year-old boy with a choledochocoele that was missed on several US examinations despite its large size. RESULTS: Findings on US, IV cholangiography, upper gastrointestinal contrast studies, ERCP and surgery are shown. The histological findings as well as the usual differential diagnosis are discussed.

[Risk factors for lung toxicity in pediatric cancer survivors]. / Factores de riesgo para toxicidad pulmonar en supervivientes de cáncer pediátrico.

OBJECTIVE: Our objectives were to determine the prevalence of alterations in lung function among pediatric cancer survivors with known risk factors and to establish clinical and imaging correlations, as well as to establish follow-up criteria. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Cancer survivors diagnosed at the Pediatric Oncology Unit between 1971 and 1997 who fulfilled at least one of the following criteria were eligible: 1) primary lung or thoracic wall neoplasm; 2) lung metastasis at diagnosis or later, or; 3) irradiation of mediastinum and/or lung fields. Assessment included respiratory symptomatology questionnaire, physical examination, forced spirometry, static lung volumes, maximal static respiratory pressures, single breath CO diffusing capacity, pulse oximetry and imaging studies. RESULTS: Thirty-five (14 females and 21 males) out of 41 survivors were assessed. Mean age at diagnosis, evaluation and follow-up were 9 (1-14), 18 (10-28) and 9 (3-27) years, respectively. The diagnoses included pleuropulmonary blastoma (1), chest wall Ewing's sarcoma (1), Hodgkin's disease (18), nephroblastoma (7), yolk-sac tumor (2), acute leukemia2), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (1), rhabdomyosarcoma (1), coriocarcinoma of the ovary (1) and osteosarcoma (1). Thirteen patients presented lung metastasis at diagnosis or later. All were administered chemotherapy. Irradiated fields were the mediastinum (dose 20-56 Gy) in 20 cases, the lung (8-30 Gy) in 6 and the spine (24 Gy) in one. Eight underwent thoracotomy. Fourteen percent were dyspneic when walking at the same rate as a person of the same sex and age (grade 2). Twenty percent had a restrictive ventilatory disorder, but none were obstructive. The presence of dyspnea had sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values and negative predictive value for the diagnosis of restrictive ventilatory disorder of 67%, 96%, 80% and 93%, respectively. Lung irradiation was associated with an increased risk for the development of restrictive disease. Excluding those who received lung irradiation, survivors under 6 years of age at diagnosis obtained lower spirometric values, lung volumes and DLCO values than survivors aged 6 years or older at diagnosis. There were no differences in pulmonary function values between survivors who received mediastinum irradiation and those who did not. The cumulative dose of cyclophosphamide significantly correlated with FVC, FEV1 and FRC. Pulse oximetry values were > or = 95% in all survivors. Maximal static respiratory pressures were within normal limits in all but one survivors whose other pulmonary function results were normal. Thirty-two percent (11 out of 34) had KCO (diffusing capacity adjusted to alveolar volume) values lower than 80% of reference values. Two survivors of nephroblastoma with pulmonary metastasis and who underwent lung irradiation had radiological signs of lung fibrosis. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric cancer survivors who were administered intensive chemotherapy and/or lung irradiation are eligible for follow-up of lung function. Those diagnosed before 6 years of age and/or with moderate dyspnea are at high risk of having pulmonary restrictive disease. Imaging studies (chest X-ray) have a low sensitivity that prevents their use as a screening method in the follow-up of cancer survivors.

[Wandering spleen syndrome in childhood]. / Síndrome del bazo errante en la infancia.

Wandering spleen is a clinical condition in which an absence of ligaments and a long vascular pedicle allows the spleen to move freely in the abdomen. It is a rare entity in children but the exactly incidence is unknown because most of them are asymptomatic. The most common form of presentation is acute, chronic or intermittent abdominal pain caused by spleen torsion. Ultrasonography is the elective diagnostic method, but frequently diagnosis is made after surgery. We report two cases with acute splenic torsion in children and we discuss the clinical presentation, etiology, diagnostic procedures and management. We conclude that splenopexy--if possible--is the treatment of choice in children.

Varus deformity of the distal end of the femur secondary to a focal fibrous lesion.

Severe unilateral varus deformity of the distal end of the femur secondary to a focal fibrous lesion is reported. It is a malformative process rare at this level, this being the first report of it in the radiological literature. The conventional radiograph is pathognomonic and CT is useful in the confirmation of the fibrous tissue. Osteotomy is indicated only if the deformity progresses or the angle of varus is severe.

[Echographic diagnosis of hypertrophic stenosis of the pylorus]. / Diagnóstico ecográfico de la estenosis hipertrófica de píloro.

We reviewed the abdominal sonograms of thirty three infants presenting with vomiting. Thirty patients were clinically suspected of having hypertrophic pyloric stenosis. The thickened pyloric muscle was seen as a hypoechoic mass with strong central echoes, situated medial to the gallbladder, and anterior to the right kidney and caval vein, in transverse and longitudinal sections respectively. The muscle thickness measured between 3.8 and 7 mm. These findings were found in thirty infants, in 27 of whom the diagnosis was clinically suspected, and the other three were presumed to have gastroesophageal reflux. All of them had subsequent confirmation of hypertrophic pyloric stenosis by upper gastrointestinal tract examination and/or surgery. Real time ultrasound is considered a useful, quick, reliable and non invasive method to confirm the hypertrophic pyloric stenosis in infants with vomiting.