Rectal atresia, choanal atresia and congenital heart disease: a rare association.

Rectal atresia is an extremely rare anorectal malformation. A unique case of rectal atresia presenting as an imperforate membrane associated with congenital cardiac malformations and unilateral choanal atresia in a newborn is reported. Ultrasound examination in the newborn infant located the presence of the rectal membrane which was surgically treated successfully.

[Congenital sternal cleft. Diagnosis and treatment].

The first known case of sternal cleft was described by Torres in 1740. Since then, many publications have appeared concerning sternal cleft, which have led to introduce a classification and some therapeutical procedures. This disease is a developmental anomaly of the sternum that usually shows vascular and cardiac malformations as well as diaphragmatic, abdominal wall, pericard and middle line organs anomalies.

[Laparoscopic staging in abdominal tumors in children: an alternative to staging laparotomy].

Introduction: In abdominal tumors in childhood, staging laparotomy is usually an essential diagnostic tool to obtain information about the histology and the extension of the tumor, when less invasive methods do not reach to clarify the process.

Patients: In fourteen children between 3 months and 17 years a laparoscopical procedure was performed.

Material And Method: Only in patients without a clear diagnosis after noninvasive exploration were submitted to an explorative laparoscopy in order to define the histology, the extension of the illness or to locate it.

Surgical correction of pectus excavatum: the Münster experience.

Objectives: Pectus excavatum is the most common congenital hereditary chest-wall deformity. This study analyses a single-center experience of pectus excavatum-thoracic wall reconstruction using a uniform technique of internal stabilization employing stainless steel struts.

Methods: From June 1984 to December 1997, we performed correction operations on 777 patients with pectus excavatum.