[Acquired undescended testes: treatment and consequences for future fertility].

1-3% of boys develop an acquired undescended testes (UDT), meaning that the testes cannot be returned into the scrotum after previously having been located in a stable scrotal position. Fertility issues for patients with acquired UDT are comparable to those for patients with congenital UDT. Hypothetically speaking, patients with acquired UDT are at lower risk of testicular cancer than patients with congenital UDT.

INSL3 and AMH in patients with previously congenital or acquired undescended testes.

Background: In previous reports no differences in Leydig and Sertoli cell function were found between congenital undescended testis (CUDT) and acquired UDT (AUDT) on the basis of serum levels of LH, testosterone, FSH or inhibin B. This study tried to detect differences in Leydig and Sertoli cell function between CUDT and AUDT using insulin-like peptide 3 (INSL3) and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH).

Method: 118 men with a history of UDT (CUDT N=55 (6/55 bilateral), AUDT N=63 (15/63 bilateral)) were investigated.

Ethical aspects of care in the newborn surgical patient.

This article places focus on three main subjects that are all related to the ethical aspects of care of newborns undergoing major surgical interventions. The first concerns the communication between the surgeon, as a representative of the treatment team, and the parents. The second is the way to handle new developments in neonatal surgery.

Interdisciplinary structural follow-up of surgical newborns: a prospective evaluation.

Background: Information on physical and developmental outcomes of children with anatomical congenital anomalies (CAs) may indicate the need for early intervention and reduce impact on the child's life and parental burden.

Methods: From 1999 to 2003, 101 children with CA (76.5% of initial survivors) were seen 6-monthly in a tertiary children's hospital.

Late presentation of gastric tube ulcer perforation after oesophageal atresia repair.

Ulcer formation in intrathoracic grafts after oesophageal replacement is considered an infrequent complication of the procedure. We present a rare case of a gastric tube ulcer with perforation, more than 30 years after gastric tube interposition for oesophageal atresia.

Cost-effectiveness of neonatal surgery: first greeted with scepticism, now increasingly accepted.

Mortality rates in neonatal surgery have dropped markedly, illustrating the enormous progress made. Yet, new questions have arisen. To mention one, health care budgets have tightened.

Nonpalpable testes: is there a relationship between ultrasonographic and operative findings?

Background: Ultrasonography (US) as a diagnostic tool in the work-up of boys with nonpalpable testes (NPT) is still controversial.

Objective: To evaluate the relation between US and operative findings in boys with NPT.

Materials And Methods: During a 7-year period we saw 135 boys with 152 NPT.

Can pyloromyotomy for infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis be performed in any hospital? Results from two teaching hospitals.

In order to document the incidence of perioperative complications in patients with infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis, a descriptive cohort study was performed in two teaching hospitals in the Netherlands. One hospital specialized in pediatric surgery and the other was a general surgery teaching hospital. All consecutive infants who underwent pyloromyotomy for the diagnosis hypertrophic pyloric stenosis in both hospitals between 1998 and 2002 were included.

Study of the factors associated with recurrence in children with sacrococcygeal teratoma.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore effects of (1) histological involvement of resection margins with microscopic residue, (2) incomplete removal of coccyx, and (3) tumor spillage on recurrence and on survival in children operated upon for sacrococcygeal teratoma (SCT).

Methods: Retrospective review of 70 patients treated between 1960 and 2003.

Results: Fifty-four girls and 16 boys presented with SCT diagnosed prenatally (12), at birth (37), or later (21).

Ovarian germ cell tumors in children: a clinical study of 66 patients.

Background: Ovarian germ cell tumors are rare in childhood. The aim of this study is to review clinical presentation, management, and outcome in a two-center series of girls with ovarian germ cell tumor.

Procedure: The records of 66 patients (median age 9 years) with histologically proven ovarian germ cell tumor (either benign or malignant), treated over a 44-year-span, were reviewed.

Retroperitoneal germ cell tumors: a clinical study of 12 patients.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to examine the clinical presentation, method(s) of treatment, complications, and results in newborns and infants with retroperitoneal germ cell tumors (GCTs).

Methods: A retrospective chart review of all patients treated between 1974 and 2002 for GCT located in the retroperitoneum in 2 institutions identified 12 patients with histologically proven retroperitoneal GCT. Vital data concerning pregnancy and delivery were analyzed.

Glutamine supplementation of parenteral nutrition does not improve intestinal permeability, nitrogen balance, or outcome in newborns and infants undergoing digestive-tract surgery: results from a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial.

Objective: To assess the effect of isocaloric isonitrogenous parenteral glutamine supplementation on intestinal permeability and nitrogen loss in newborns and infants after major digestive-tract surgery.

Summary Background Data: Glutamine supplementation in critically ill and surgical adults may normalize intestinal permeability, attenuate nitrogen loss, improve survival, and lower the incidence of nosocomial infections. Previous studies in critically ill children were limited to very-low-birthweight infants and had equivocal results.

Strategy for management of newborns with cervical teratoma.

Background: Cervical teratomas are extremely rare tumors with high perinatal mortality and morbidity rates.

Objective: To compare our experience and outcome in newborns with cervical teratoma with similar reports from the literature, in order to propose a structured approach.

Methods: A retrospective review of seven patients treated between 1986 and 2000 was performed.