Annular pancreas in two consecutive siblings: an extremely rare case.

Annular pancreas is the rare congenital anomaly where the pancreas forms a full or incomplete ring around the second segment of the duodenum, causing various degrees of stenosis or atresia. It is estimated that it appears in 1 out of 12 000-15 000 births of living neonates and until now, in the literature, only 6 cases have been reported among individuals of the same family. We present the case of two siblings, a boy and a girl, with annular pancreas from consecutive pregnancies of the same couple.

The Roux-en-Y procedure in congenital hepato-biliary disorders.

Background: The use of the Roux-en-Y procedure is limited in paediatric surgery practice, and is performed mainly in congenital hepatobiliary disorders either as an initial or permanent treatment. In this 18-year retrospective study, we present our experience of the Roux-en-Y procedure in childhood cases of biliary atresia (BA) and congenital choledochal cyst (CCC).

Methods: Twenty-eight children (18 females and 10 males; age 25 days-12 years) with hepatobiliary disorders were treated in our clinics between 1986-2004.

Colostomy type in anorectal malformations: 10-years experience.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of colostomy type on morbidity during the treatment of anorectal malformations.

Methods: Sixty-eight infants (male: female ratio 1.3:1) with anorectal malformations that required colostomy were treated in our clinics during the period 1991-2001.

Urological symptoms of acute appendicitis in childhood and early adolescence.

We present 15 cases of acute appendicitis in ten boys and five girls (age 3-15 years) with cardinal symptomatology coming from the urogenital tract, who were treated in our departments. All the patients presented with right renal colic, dysuria, frequency and urinary retention. The symptoms were attributed to an ongoing appendix inflammatory process in close proximity to the right distal ureter and urinary bladder.

Splenic artery ligation: a ten-year experience in the treatment of selected cases of splenic injuries in children.

Splenic artery ligation (SAL) combined with either splenorrhaphy or partial splenectomy has been used as a spleen saving procedure in the management of massively bleeding splenic injuries. During the last 10 years, 37 children have been submitted to SAL following a selective management schedule. This study was jointly undertaken by two separate Pediatric Surgical Units in two different countries, in order to evaluate some preliminary observations published previously, with regard to; 1) the percentage of splenic injuries requiring ligation of the splenic artery; 2) the effect of this procedure on the arrest of bleeding; 3) the postoperative complications related to dearterialization of the spleen; 4) the immunological status after the operation and; 5) the postoperative imaging of the spleen using radioscintigrams and ultrasonograms.