Renal length and volume prediction in healthy children.

Introduction: Little information is available regarding the evaluation of renal volume in healthy Latin-American children of different ages. The objective of this work was to establish a predictive model of renal size (volume and length) and develop a web-based calculator.

Materials And Methods: A selective and representative sample was obtained randomly from the database of healthy children living in Resistencia city, Chaco, Argentina: a) the National Health Program for children under 6 years old; b) school children until 18 years old (primary and middle education).

[Hemi-atlas: report of five cases].

C1 partial aplasia is a rare congenital deformity which can produce unacceptable progressive severe torticollis. Five such cases treated in two regional Pediatric Hospitals of Argentin are presented here. There were 4 girls and 1 boy, with a mean age of 6 years; four of them had formation defect of articular mass (Villa's Area 3) causing fixed torticollis in 3 who underwent surgery.

Stab injury of the spinal cord surgically treated.

The authors report a case of thoracic spinal cord stab injury with neurologic impairment that was treated surgically after injury. A literature review and case analysis indicate that surgical extraction of foreign bodies retained within the spinal canal is indicated to avoid infection, delayed myelopathy, and neurologic loss. The amount of motor and functional recovery for incomplete injuries after spinal cord stab wound can be strikingly good despite pathologic changes to severely damaged areas, and removal of retained intraspinal metallic fragment can improve this neurologic outcome.

Chordoma of the lumbar L2 vertebra: case report and review of the literature.

We report four new cases of chordoma of "the mobile spine", all at the L2 level. Diagnosis was often delayed due to predominantly nonspecific low back symptoms; however, neurological involvement is more frequent than in chordoma with a sacrococcygeal localization. No pathognomonic images have been described for any imaging modality, and differential diagnosis should include metastases, chondrosarcoma, and giant-cell tumor.