Vertebral arteria lusoria: a life-threatening condition for oesophageal surgery.

A rare anatomic variant of the right vertebral artery is reported as an incidental finding in a 78-year-old female patient. The vessel originated from the aortic arch distal to the origin of the left subclavian artery and presented an unusual retroesophageal course, thus was named "vertebral arteria lusoria". As multi-detector row computed tomography examination is now widely used, this anatomical variant should be considered in any patient undergoing esophageal surgery.

Mesenteric hernia: a rare cause of intestinal obstruction in children.

A 3-year-old boy presented with small bowel obstruction resulting from incarceration of the distal ileum in a mesentric defect. Attempted laparoscopy was unsuccessful. The hernia was reduced successfully at laparotomy.

The left Monti-Malone procedure: Preliminary results in seven cases.

Background/purpose: The management of children who have congenital intestinal dysfunction and continuous feces soiling has been improved significantly by the Malone continent caecostomy. When the appendix is not available, the Monti tube represents a good alternative to create a catheterizable conduit. The authors report here 7 cases of left continent colonic access (left Monti-Malone).

[Traumatic luxation of the posterior tibialis tendon].

Anterior dislocation of the tibialis posterior tendon is a traumatic lesion, which is rarely suspected following ankle trauma. It seems to be promoted by hypoplasia of the retromalleolar sulcus. Surgical treatment is easy and reportedly gives excellent results, but the diagnosis is difficult and absence of diagnosis may result in functional instability of the foot requiring more invasive surgical treatment.