Evaluating Inter- and Intraobserver Agreement on Pectus Carinatum Severity and Treatment Outcomes: A Comparison of Subjective and Objective Assessment Methods.

Background:  Visual examination is crucial for assessing pectus carinatum (PC) severity and treatment results. This cross-sectional study evaluates the inter- and intraobserver agreement of PC deformities before and after treatment.

Methods:  Observers examined medical photographs of patients before and after treatment.

15 Years of Vacuum Bell Therapy for Pectus Excavatum: Long-term Outcomes and Influencing Factors.

Background: Long-term results and factors affecting outcomes of vacuum bell therapy for pectus excavatum are relatively unknown.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study on patients (<18y) treated with vacuum bell therapy between May 2008 and October 2021. Primary outcome was treatment success; secondary outcomes were analysis of daily time spent on treatment, treatment duration, complications, long-term follow-up, treatment for patients awaiting a Nuss procedure, treatment for female patients, and factors affecting outcomes.

Intercostal Nerve Cryoablation or Epidural Analgesia for Multimodal Pain Management after the Nuss Procedure: A Cohort Study.

Background:  Nuss procedure for pectus excavatum is a minimally invasive, but painful procedure. Recently, intercostal nerve cryoablation has been introduced as a pain management technique.

Materials And Methods:  In this cohort study, we compared the efficacy of multimodal pain management strategies in children undergoing a Nuss procedure.

No Pathogenic DICER1 Gene Variants in a Cohort Study of 28 Children With Congenital Pulmonary Airway Malformation.

Background: Distinguishing congenital pulmonary airway malformations (CPAMs) from pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB) can be challenging. Previously diagnosed patients with CPAM may have been misdiagnosed and we may have missed DICER1-associated PPBs, a diagnosis with important clinical implications for patients and their families. To gain insight in potential misdiagnoses, we systematically assessed somatic DICER1 gene mutation status in an unselected, retrospective cohort of patients with a CPAM diagnosis.

Ravitch Surgery or Dynamic Compression Bracing for Pectus Carinatum: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: Pectus carinatum is a pediatric condition that can be treated by dynamic compression system (DCS) bracing or surgery. Several publications on DCS bracing or surgery are available; however, they do not compare both treatments.

Methods: Over a 10-year period, 738 patients with pectus carinatum were treated at the Amsterdam Pectus Center (Amsterdam, The Netherlands).

Clinical significance of concomitant pectus deformity and adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: systematic review with best evidence synthesis.

Background: A misbalance in forces is proposed for causing adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). AIS is therefore correlated to adjacent musculoskeletal pathologies. Its concomitance with idiopathic pectus deformities (PD) is underexposed.

Robotic Central Pancreatectomy with Roux-en-Y Pancreaticojejunostomy.

Central pancreatectomy is a parenchyma-sparing alternative to distal pancreatectomy in patients with a benign or low-grade malignant tumor in the body of the pancreas. The aim of central pancreatectomy is to prevent postoperative life-long endocrine and exocrine insufficiency. The downside of central pancreatectomy is the high rate of postoperative pancreatic fistula, which is the main reason that many surgeons do not routinely use central pancreatectomy in eligible patients.

Psychosocial Impact of 8 Weeks COVID-19 Quarantine on Italian Parents and their Children.

Objectives: Italy was affected greatly by Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), emerging mainly in the Italian province of Lombardy. This outbreak led to profound governmental interventions along with a strict quarantine. This quarantine may have psychosocial impact on children and parents in particular.

Pasireotide treatment for severe congenital hyperinsulinism due to a homozygous ABCC8 mutation.

ABCC8 and KCJN11 mutations cause the most severe diazoxide-resistant forms of congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI). Somatostatin analogues are considered as secondline treatment in diazoxide-unresponsive cases. Current treatment protocols include the first-generation somatostatin analogue octreotide, although pasireotide, a second-generation somatostatin analogue, might be more effective in reducing insulin secretion.

[Dynamic compression brace for pectus carinatum: 5 years on].

Pectus carinatum is a congenital chest-wall deformity with a prevalence of 0.3-0.7%.

Risk factors for refractory anastomotic strictures after oesophageal atresia repair: a multicentre study.

Objective: To determine the incidence of refractory anastomotic strictures after oesophageal atresia (OA) repair and to identify risk factors associated with refractory strictures.

Methods: Retrospective national multicentre study in patients with OA born between 1999 and 2013. Exclusion criteria were isolated fistula, inability to obtain oesophageal continuity, death prior to discharge and follow-up <6 months.

Choledochal Malformation in Children: Lessons Learned from a Dutch National Study.

Introduction: A choledochal malformation (CM) is a rare entity, especially in the Western world. We aimed to determine the incidence of CM in the Netherlands and the outcome of surgery for CM in childhood.

Methods: All pediatric patients who underwent a surgical procedure for type I-IV CM between 1989 and 2014 were entered into the Netherlands Study group on choledochal cyst/malformation.

The timing of surgery of antenatally diagnosed choledochal malformations: A descriptive analysis of a 26-year nationwide cohort.

Introduction: Choledochal malformations (CMs) are increasingly diagnosed antenatally. There is a dilemma between early surgery to prevent CM-related symptoms and postponing surgery to reduce complications. We aimed to identify the optimal timing of surgery in asymptomatic neonates with antenatally diagnosed CM and to identify predictors for development of symptoms.

[Inguinal hernia in children: examine thoroughly, treat rapidly].

An inguinal hernia is a protrusion of the intra-abdominal contents (in most cases the small bowel) via the inguinal canal towards the labium or the scrotum and is possible due to the fact that the processus vaginalis has not obliterated. It occurs in 1-2% of children. If surgical repair is not performed within a short period of time, the consequences can be far-reaching.

Gynaecomastia surgery in the Netherlands: what, why, who, where….

Gynaecomastia, breast enlargement in men, is common in all age groups. It is operated on by plastic surgeons, general surgeons and paediatric surgeons. It is therefore possible that there is a difference in the populations treated, the indications for surgery and the management used by the different practitioners.

Implementation of laparoscopic splenectomy in children and the incidence of portal vein thrombosis diagnosed by ultrasonography.

Background: The aim of this study is to evaluate if symptomatic or asymptomatic PVT, as diagnosed with ultrasonography (US), occurs more often in children after the introduction and implementation of LS compared to open splenectomy.

Methods: A retrospective cohort of 76 splenectomized patients for benign hematological disease were analyzed, 24 after open splenectomy (OS) and 52 after LS.

Results: In six of the OS and 40 after LS a postoperative US was obtained.