Promoting major pediatric surgical care in a low-income country: a 4-year experience in Eritrea.

Background: Access to pediatric surgical care in many sub-Saharan African countries is strongly limited by lack of medical facilities, adequate transport system, and trained medical and nursing manpower. The mortality rate for major congenital abnormalities remains extremely elevated in this area of the world. Strong efforts have been spent during the past decades to elevate the level of pediatric surgery standards in these countries through cooperation programs acting through periodical medical missions or supporting local medical teaching institutions.

A transbranchial approach for the percutaneous therapy of pediatric varicocele.

Purpose: Male varicocele affects children with the same incidence as it does adults. The association between asymptomatic idiopathic varicocele and male infertility and the poor recovery of testicular function after varicocele repair in adulthood have called for noninvasive clinical and instrumental diagnosis and increasingly early treatment. The department of Pediatric Surgery at our Hospital has screened schoolchildren for the early diagnosis and treatment of childhood varicocele.

Analysis of radiation doses in the percutaneous treatment of varicocele in adolescents.

Purpose: Varicocele is a common clinical condition that affects 15% of the male population and is an important cause of male infertility. Fluoroscopy-guided percutaneous treatment with retrograde sclerosis is a good alternative to surgery. We report our experience in calculating the total radiation dose to patient and the associated risk.