Intussusception in a child caused by capillary hemangioma of the colon.

Intussusception is one of the most common abdominal emergencies in children, but identifying the cause is very difficult. Hemangioma is a common tumor of the head and neck area in children, but it rarely arises in the gastrointestinal tract. This report describes a rare occurrence of intussusception caused by capillary hemangioma of the colon that was identified by ultrasonography (US), computed tomography (CT), and colonoscopy.

Hypogenesis of intramural vascularity and perivascular plexuses of gallbladder in patients with congenital biliary dilatation.

Background: We hypothesized neuronal disorders of the biliary tract as the cause of congenital biliary dilation (CBD).

Methods: Gallbladders were removed from a total of 15 patients who were categorized into two study groups: a CBD group (eight patients) and in a control group (neuroblastoma, acute myelogenous leukemia, wandering gallbladder, Wilms' tumor, glycogen storage disease, familial amyloid polyneuropathy; seven patients). Whole-mount preparations of the gallbladders were made to immunostain the intramural nerves.

A case of retroperitoneal abscess caused by Salmonella Oranienburg.

The authors report a case of retroperitoneal abscess caused by Salmonella Oranienburg in an 8-year-old girl. This was one case in an epidemic of food poisoning from Salmonella Oranienburg or Salmonella Chester transmitted by many kinds of contaminated dried squid products. This is the first reported case of a retroperitoneal abscess by Salmonella Oranienburg.

Three-dimensional image reconstruction of an anorectal malformation with multidetector-row helical computed tomography technology.

The presentation of the surgical anatomy of anorectal malformation by standard anatomical figures is not suitable for individual anorectoplasty. It is essential to understand the anatomy of the pelvic muscle (striated muscle complex: SMC) including the external anal sphincter and their three-dimensional (3D) configuration in each patient. Thus, we studied the SMC three-dimensionally with multidetector-row helical computed tomography (MRH-CT) preoperatively, and evaluated its usefulness.

Colonic atresia and Hirschsprung's disease: importance of histologic examination of the distal bowel.

Hirschsprung's disease associated with colonic atresia is rare. A boy with colonic atresia at the hepatic flexure who had a colostomy in the neonatal period suffered from severe constipation after definitive colocolostomy. Hirschsprung's disease was diagnosed with anorectal manometry and rectal mucosal biopsy, and a Duhamel-Ikeda's pull-through procedure was performed.

Attenuated nitrergic inhibitory neurotransmission to interstitial cells of Cajal in the lower esophageal sphincter with esophageal achalasia in children.

Background: Esophageal achalasia (EA) is a rare disease in children, the etiology and pathogenesis of which remain controversial. Previous studies have suggested that a specific class of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) act as mediators in nitrergic inhibitory neurotransmission in the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). The aim of this investigation is to clarify the status of ICC and nitrergic inhibitory neurons in the LES of EA using immunohistochemistry.