Delivery in a tertiary Center with co-located surgical facilities makes the difference among neonates with prenatally diagnosed major abnormalities.

Objective: Impact of prenatal diagnosis (PD) of major abnormalities on neonatal outcome is matter of debate. Unfortunately cases with and without PD may sometimes not be comparable. This is generally related to a lower maturity (GA) and weight (BW) secondary to a high rate of preterm cesarean sections (CSs) for clinical convenience.

Preoperative administration of Sudan III and successful treatment of persistent chylous ascites in a neonate.

Congenital chylous ascites is a rare entity, and surgical treatment is confined to selected intractable cases. We report 2 cases of refractory congenital chylous ascites successfully treated with preoperative administration of lipophilic dye (Sudan III) followed by abdominal systematic surgical exploration, cauterization, and fibrin glue application.

Conservative management of cervicomediastinal chyloma in an infant.

The accumulation of chyle into the mediastinum after surgical intervention is considered an extremely rare event, which has been previously described only in adulthood. We report on a 9-month-old boy who developed a cervicomediastinal chyloma after excision of a large left-sided supraclavicular cystic hygroma. Notwithstanding considerable tracheal deviation, the infant remained asymptomatic and was successfully treated by nonoperative treatment.

Prenatal diagnosis of duodenal obstruction selects cases with a higher risk of maternal-foetal complications and demands in utero transfer to a tertiary centre.

Objectives: It was the aim of this study to determine if prenatal diagnosis of congenital duodenal obstruction (CDO) selects high-risk pregnancies and demands special perinatal attention.

Methods: Medical records of 62 neonates with intrinsic CDO, admitted since 1981 in 2 institutions, were reviewed and divided into 2 groups: 39 cases, detected in utero by a prenatal ultrasonogram (group A), and 23 diagnosed at birth (group B). Prevalence of complete CDO, mean gestational age, mean birth weight, hydramnios, as well as maternal-foetal complications requiring emergency Caesarean section and associated with premature delivery were compared in the 2 groups.

The eyelid crease approach to angular dermoid cysts in pediatric general surgery.

Purpose: We recently adopted an approach described by eyelid surgeons for angular dermoid cyst excision. The aim of this study was to compare the outcome of this technique with that accomplished through a conventional trans-eyebrow incision.

Methods: Prospective nonrandomized study of 34 consecutive children treated between January 2000 and December 2006.

The fate of prenatally diagnosed primary nonrefluxing megaureter: do we have reliable predictors for spontaneous resolution?

Objectives: To compare predictive values of current morphologic parameters with congenital renal damage associated with severe megaureter.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed using records of 37 patients (50 megaureters) referred before birth for a primary megaureter. Mean follow-up was 26 months (range, 1 to 8 years).

The functional sequelae of sacrococcygeal teratoma: a longitudinal and cross-sectional follow-up study.

Aim: The purpose of the study was to determine clinical manifestations, prevalence, and natural history of functional sequelae in patients operated on for sacrococcygeal teratoma (SCT) during infancy.

Methods: The medical records of 18 infants operated on for SCT were reviewed. Data recorded during admission and during routine outpatient appointments were analyzed.

The effect of glossopexy on weight velocity in infants with Pierre Robin syndrome.

Aim: In infants with Pierre Robin syndrome (PRS), mandibular distraction may be more advantageous than glossopexy as it not only relieves oropharyngeal airway obstruction but also reverses body growth retardation. Because no data are available on body weight velocity after glossopexy, we assessed longitudinally the body weight velocity in a cohort of children undergoing glossopexy.

Methods: The records of 48 infants with PRS undergoing glossopexy after unsuccessful nonoperative treatment between 1981 and 2005 were reviewed.