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Background: Chronic constipation is a common problem in children and makes a significant portion of the outpatient visits. Because sacral disorders would impair the defecating mechanism, this study was aimed to evaluate sacral ratio (SR) as a criterion of sacral bone and its association with chronic constipation. Methods: This study was performed on 52 children aged 0 - 15 years referred to the radiology department during 2014 - 2015. The case group included 26 patients with chronic functional constipation and the control group included 26 others without chronic constipation, which had been referred for pelvic radiography for other reasons such as trauma or suspected hip joint problem; Anterior-posterior pelvic radiography was done for both case and control groups and SR in each group was calculated and compared. Results: The case group included 14 females and 12 males with average age of 5.20 ± 3.61 years and the control group included 20 females, and 6 males with average age of 6.97 ± 4.09 years. The defecation occurred once a week in 50% of all children in study group, 26% of them had no defecation in a week. In control group, 54% had defecation once or twice a day. Mean SR in the study group was 0.8 ± 0.12 and the control group was 0.826 ± 0.15, but the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Other variables including gender and times of defecation did not show significant relation with SR. The mean of SR in continent cases was more than incontinent cases, although not statistically significant (P = 0.216). Conclusions: In this study, SR showed a wide range of values in both groups and the mean SR in control group was more than the study group but this difference was not statistically significant. Therefore, the sacral ratio canot be seen as a useful tool for evaluating chronic constipation in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Infantile Systemic Hyalinosis (ISH) is a very rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by connective tissue involvement as hyaline deposition in skin, gastrointestinal tract, muscles, glands and other organs. Cases Presentation: We report eight Iranian children (4 male and 4 female) with ISH referred to our hospital from 1996 to 2013. The illness had been diagnosed by clinical manifestations and disease progression. Six of them died and two are alive but very sick. Conclusion: ISH is a very rare disorder with poor prognosis. Seventy five percent of our 8 patients died before 2 years old due to severe diarrhea, malabsorption and/ or infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Air leak syndromes including pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum and pulmonary interstitial emphysema are frequent in neonatal period. Mechanical ventilation with positive pressure is one of the most common causes of these syndromes. The aim of this study was to evaluate predisposing factors and incidence of pneumothorax in newborns under mechanical ventilation. Methods: This descriptive cross sectional study was performed in 400 newborns under mechanical ventilation in intensive care unit of a teaching hospital in Iran from April 2004 to December 2008. Predisposing factors leading to ventilation and incidence of air leak syndromes were studied. Sex, gestational age, birth weight, type of delivery, history of surfactant replacement therapy, ventilator settings and mortality rate were recorded. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS software. Univariate analysis and regression analysis were considered. Findings: Among 400 patients under mechanical ventilation, 102 neonates developed pneumothorax (26%). Fifty six (54.9%) of them were boys and 46 (45.1%) girls. 54.9% of newborns with pneumothorax were preterm and 45.1% term. Birth weight less than 2500g was recorded in 59.8%. Fifty two percent of these neonates were born by cesarean section vs. 32% of newborns without pneumothorax. The most common type (62.7%) of ventilation leading to pneumothorax was InspiratoryPositive Pressure Ventilation (IPPV). Surfactant replacement: therapy was recorded In 32^^W cases with pneumothorax compared to 60.4% irfneonatos under ventilation without pneumothorax, which was significantly different (P= 0.017). Conclusion: In newborns surfactant replacement therapy can reduce the risk of pneumothorax caused by mechanical ventilatiö|t. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pneumomediastinum is commonly caused by iatrogenic injury such as surgery on the cervical planes and chest or by tracheostomy. It is also well known that emphysema may occur after dental treatments using an air turbine drill, but there have been few cases of emphysema which extended to the mediastinum. Case Presentation: A 16-year-old boy is presented with subcutaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum which developed 24 hours after surgery for extraction of an inferior second molar. We first describe history, clinical presentation and radiologic appearance of our patient and then review the literature about oral surgery causing pneumomediastinum. Conclusion: Surgical procedures in oral cavity can lead to the development of emphysema and pneumomediastinum when air turbine dental drills are used. To avoid these complications, air turbine high speed drills should be used only in necessary cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]