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The medical profession is currently undergoing a significant transformation. In recent decades, we have seen the emergence and implementation of new diagnostic tools, therapeutic targets, and technical procedures that have revolutionized our clinical practice. These resources have undoubtedly improved patient outcomes but have also led to excessive reliance on technology. This overreliance can limit the new generation's capacity to provide humane and comprehensive patient care and develop critical thinking skills. In this article, we reflect on the urgent impact of this trend on pediatric international cooperation and propose workable solutions to this problem. We stress the importance of maintaining a patient-centered approach in the face of these technological advancements, as it ensures that the patient's needs remain at the forefront of our practice., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Aviation is a tremendously complex process involving multiple factors that can be subsidiary to human error. The implementation of checklists, tools that reduce this risk, has often been extrapolated to other fields, especially medicine. Through this reflection, we comment on the critical and relevant aspects of pediatric surgical patient safety, briefly discussing the existing literature and analyzing potential areas for improvement., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Lipoblastoma is a very infrequent tumor, characteristic of early childhood. The thoracic location is infrequent, with isolated reports to date. We present the case of a 6-year-old male patient with a right thoracic tumor of months of evolution that was surgically removed by right anterolateral thoracotomy and in which the diagnosis of classic well-differentiated lipoblastoma was histologically confirmed. The patient evolved favorably and was discharged. He is currently under follow-up and without recurrence 1 year after surgery. This is, to our knowledge, the first thoracic lipoblastoma reported in an African pediatric patient. The importance of knowing the clinical, semiological, and intraoperative characteristics of this tumor becomes even more important, as in our case, in the context of international cooperation, where in many cases, there is no possibility of performing pre-operative imaging studies or subsequent genetic studies.

Background: Pediatric acute appendicitis (PAA) involves a substantial consumption of health and economic resources. The identification of serum biomarkers that may help predict the post-surgical evolution of these patients is a field of great interest. Patients and Methods: This was a prospective, observational substudy within the Biomarkers for the Diagnosis of Appendicitis in Pediatrics (BIDIAP) cohort aimed at evaluating the association between post-surgical increase in serum IL-6 and different outcomes related to the clinical evolution of children operated on for PAA. Sixty-nine children with a confirmed diagnosis of acute appendicitis and both pre-operative and post-operative serum IL-6 were included in the study. Three multivariable-adjusted linear regression models were fitted to analyze the association between an increase of >10% in post-operative serum IL-6 level with the length of stay, the number of post-operative emetic episodes, and the onset of oral feeding. Two multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models were fitted to assess the association of the same exposure with the indication of antibiotherapy at discharge and with positivity in peritoneal fluid culture. Results: Thirteen children showed an increase of >10% in the post-operative serum IL-6 value (group 1) whereas 56 showed only a minor increase, or no change (group 2). After accounting for potential confounders, children in group 1 had a mean of three-day longer hospital stay (difference, 3.33; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.57-6.09) and higher odds of a positive result in peritoneal fluid culture (odds ratio [OR], 37.43; 95% CI, 1.02-1361.28) than children in group 2. Conclusions: An increase of >10% in post-operative serum IL-6 value could predict longer hospital stay and higher odds of positive peritoneal fluid culture. Future prospective studies are needed to replicate these findings and to broaden the range of biomarkers that could predict the post-operative evolution of children operated on for PAA.

International cooperation in pediatrics and pediatric surgery entails important barriers such as sociocultural differences, language difficulties, lack of infrastructure and resources, and short duration of campaigns. In this work, we share our personal experience in relation to the scientific publication of works carried out in pediatric international cooperation, and we make a critical reflection on the aspects to be considered for this field to develop in the future.

Congenital prepubic sinus (PS) is an extremely infrequent malformation consisting of a prepubic fistulous tract that classically does not communicate with the genitourinary system. Previous studies centered on its immunohistochemical characterization have shown inconsistent results, and the etiology has not been clarified. We present the case of a 2-year-old male who presented since birth with a fistulous orifice on the dorsum of the penis. He had no associated symptoms. Under general anesthesia, the fistulous tract was explored, and methylene blue was instilled through it. After cystoscopically verifying the absence of communication with the urethra, a complete resection of the lesion was performed. The immunohistochemical study showed positivity for low and high molecular weight keratins and a transitional pattern for keratin 7 and GATA3, with positivity at cul de sac level and negativity at proximal level. These findings suggest that this lesion is an incomplete dorsal duplication variant.

Introduction: Circumcision is one of the most frequent urological surgical procedures in the pediatric population globally. Complications, although rare, can be severe., Clinical Case: We present the case of a Senegalese 10-year-old male patient who had undergone ritual circumcision in his early childhood and developed a progressive circumferential tumor in the penile body with no further associated symptoms. Surgical exploration was carried out. A fibrotic-looking penile ring, which was interpreted as an injury secondary to the non-absorbable suturing material used in the previous surgery, was identified. The tissue involved was removed, and on-demand preputioplasty was conducted. Due to technical limitations, the resected tissue could not be analyzed, which means diagnosis could not be histopathologically confirmed. The patient had a favorable progression., Conclusions: This case demonstrates that the medical personnel in charge of performing circumcisions should be adequately trained in order to prevent severe complications.

Background: The literature regarding alterations in the coagulation profile in pediatric acute appendicitis (PAA) is scarce and mainly limited to retrospective studies. Evidence on the diagnostic yield of coagulation parameters is limited to fibrinogen. Patients and Methods: This is a prospective study with 151 patients divided into two groups: patients with nonsurgical abdominal pain (NSAP) in whom the diagnosis of PAA was excluded (n = 53) and patients with a confirmed diagnosis of PAA (n = 98). In 93 patients (62%), a coagulation study was obtained at the time of diagnosis and international normalized ratio (INR), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), d-dimer, platelets, mean platelet volume, and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio were analyzed. The PAA group was further classified into complicated (n = 19) and non-complicated PAA (n = 40). Quantitative variables were compared between groups using the Mann-Whitney U test. Diagnostic performance of the coagulation profile was evaluated with the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results: Patients with NSAP had lower median levels of INR, fibrinogen and d-dimer than those with PAA. Moreover, patients with complicated PAA had higher median values of INR and fibrinogen. None of the patients needed specific treatment for the correction of coagulopathy. Fibrinogen was the parameter with the highest diagnostic yield for distinguishing between NSAP and PAA (area under the curve [AUC], 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.65-0.85), as well as between complicated versus non-complicated PAA (AUC, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.57-0.86). Conclusions: This study found a moderate extrinsic pathway coagulopathy in patients with PAA, especially in complicated PAA. Fibrinogen is a parameter with moderate diagnostic yield for the diagnosis of PAA.

Introduction: Video-assisted percutaneous thoracoplasty involves a complex surgical access with risk of damaging vital structures during the procedure. Historically, different traction and sternal elevation systems have been applied during the intervention to minimize the risk associated with the passage of the instruments between the sternum and the pericardium., Material and Methods: A new sternal traction system is presented by means of an illustrated description. Clinical and sociodemographic data were extracted from the 36 patients operated in our center for Pectus Excavatum between July 2017 and August 2021. The Haller index was not applied as a criterion to determine the use or not of the sternal traction system. Patients were classified according to whether the sternal traction system (TE) or not (ST) had been employed. Statistical analysis of the data collected was performed with STATA, version 15.0 (StataCorp)., Results: Both groups were comparable. Haller's Index was 4.19 ± 0.7 for the sternal traction (TE) group and 3.79 ± 0.3 for the no sternal traction (ST) group. In 25 of the patients the described traction system was used, and in 11 no traction system was used. All patients were operated on by the same surgeon. The mean operative time in minutes was 97.73 ± 46.2 for the ST group and 88.13 ± 18.1 for the TE group (p = 0.87). The mean total days of admission was 7.67 ± 0.82 (TE) and 7.73 ± 1.35 (ST). Mean days of intravenous PCA was 6.08 ± 0.72 (TE) and 5.89 ± 1.45 (ST). The mean number of epidural PCA days was 3.79 ± 0.5 (TE) and 3.36 ± 0.5 (ST) (p = 0.01). All patients presented a favorable postoperative evolution. None of the patients presented discomfort at the level of the sternal wounds during hospitalization. Cosmetic evolution was favorable in all patients., Conclusions: The sternal traction system presented provides safety when performing retrosternal dissection and placement of the thoracoplasty bar, leading to a decrease in surgical time in cases with a Haller Index higher than 3.5. There have been no complications associated with its use, nor has there been an increase in the number of days of hospitalization or analgesic requirements. There are no aesthetic sequelae for the patients., (Copyright © 2022 AEC. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Background: Pediatric acute appendicitis (PAA) continues to be a diagnostic challenge today. The diagnostic performance of classical indices is only moderate, especially in pediatric population. This study aimed to define a clinical, radiological and analytical index for the diagnosis of PAA., Materials and Methods: This prospective study included 151 patients divided into two groups: (1) 53 patients with non-surgical abdominal pain (NSAP) and (2) 98 patients with a confirmed PAA. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were compared between groups using the Mann-Whitney U test and the Fisher exact test. To identify the predictors of PAA, we performed a multivariable logistic regression using a forward stepwise analysis and we assigned multiples of integer values to the selected variables. The diagnostic performance of the index was assessed by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Intra-cohort calibration was assessed with the Hosmer-Lemeshow test., Results: We developed the BIDIAP index (BIomarkers for the DIagnosis of Appendicitis in Pediatrics), which included three variables that independently predicted higher odds of PAA: appendiceal caliber (≥ 6.9 mm), systemic immune-inflammation index (≥ 890) and peritoneal irritation, which scored 4, 3 and 2 points, respectively. Mean (SD) score of the participants was 2.38 (2.06) in group 1 and 7.89 (1.50) in group 2. The area under the ROC was 0.97 (95% CI 0.95-0.99). The cut-off point was established at 4 points, resulting in a sensitivity of 98.98% and a specificity of 77.78%., Conclusions: The BIDIAP index has an exceptional diagnostic performance in PAA. The importance of these results lies in its novelty and in the simplicity of the index. Although external validation will be necessary, initial results look promising., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background Massive earlobe scarring/keloid formation can occur after ear piercing in individuals of African descent. Case report: A 14-year-old African girl with pierced ears in childhood presented with two progressively growing and disfiguring tumors on both earlobes. The maximum diameter of each lesion was 5.5 centimeters, and the weight of each lesion was approximately 20 grams. Histologically, there was a mixed pattern of keloid and hypertrophic scarring. Discussion: Massive keloids can occur after ear piercing in childhood. It is unclear why some individuals develop these massive keloids.

Background: Neuroglial heterotopia, characterized by mature -neuroglial tissue outside the central nervous system, has not been previously associated with cranioschisis. Case Report: A 4-year-old female patient, with left congenital anophthalmia, had a nasofrontal neuroglial heterotopia protruding through an ossification defect. Discussion: Nasofrontal cranioschisis may be associated with neuroglial heterotopias. The combination of anophthalmia and neuroglial heterotopia, previously described only once in the literature, may be part of a broader malformation spectrum that has not been properly characterized to date.

Background: Pediatric acute appendicitis (AA) is a challenging pathology to diagnose. In the last decades, multiple biomarkers have been evaluated in different human biological samples to improve diagnostic performance. This study aimed to examine the diagnostic performance of serum, fecal and urinary calprotectin as well as the role of the APPY-1 biomarker panel in pediatric acute appendicitis., Methods: We conducted a systematic review of the literature that involved an extensive search in the main databases of medical bibliography (Medline, PubMed, Web of Science and SciELO). Two independent reviewers selected the relevant articles based on the previously defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Methodological quality of the selected article was rated using the QUADAS2 index. Data extraction was performed by two independent reviewers. A synthesis of the results, a standardization of the metrics and two random-effect meta-analyses, one for serum calprotectin and one for APPY-1, were performed., Results: The research resulted in 173 articles. Thirty-eight duplicates were removed. Among the remaining 135 articles, we excluded 125 following the inclusion and exclusion criteria, resulting in the 10 studies included in this review. This systematic review included data from of 3901 participants (1276 patients with confirmed diagnosis of AA and 2625 controls). The age of the participants ranged from 0 to 21 years. Four of the studies compared serum calprotectin values and reported significant differences between groups, but inconsistent results regarding cutoff points, sensitivity and specificity. Two publications compared urinary values of calprotectin and presented inconsistent results regarding sensitivity and specificity as well. One publication evaluated the diagnostic performance of fecal calprotectin, but it did not provide data on measured values. Four studies evaluated the diagnostic performance of APPY-1 test in pediatric acute appendicitis. The calculated pooled sensitivity and specificity of those studies were 97.37 (95% CI 95.60-98.44) and 36.74 (95% CI 32.28-41.44), respectively, and the calculated pooled NLR, 0.0714 (95% CI 0.041-0.115)., Conclusion: Serum calprotectin has limited diagnostic yield in pediatric acute appendicitis. Its performance seems to increase with the hours of clinical evolution and in advanced AA, although the evidence is limited. There is not enough evidence on the usefulness of urinary or fecal calprotectin in the diagnosis of pediatric acute appendicitis. On the other hand, the APPY-1 is a reliable test to exclude the diagnosis of AA in patients at low or moderate risk according to PAS and Alvarado Score., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.)

The perineal presentation of plexiform neurofibroma is exceptional, with only two cases reported to date., We present an 8-year-old African male with a large perineal tumor of years of evolution. He had no associated symptoms. Café au lait stains were observed on examination, without other findings of relevance. The patient had no preoperative radiological studies. Partial excision of the lesion was performed. Histopathological study of the specimen revealed a plexiform neurofibroma., The lack of diagnostic suspicion due to the atypical nature of the location, the anatomical complexity of surgical resection and the potential urological and rectal involvement make this lesion a diagnostic-therapeutic challenge. Among the differential diagnoses, schwannoma, congenital lipoma, hamartoma and lipoblastoma should be considered.

Glans ischemia is an extremely infrequent complication characterized by a total or partial compromise in the penile arterial perfusion. A 15-year-old male patient suffered an episode of ischemia in the glans penis post-circumcision 24 h after surgery. Intravenous treatment with continuous perfusion of pentoxifylline was started for 4 days, with favorable evolution. Complete resolution was observed with no sequelae. There is no consensus on the best therapeutic management. The favorable evolution reported in most of the cases despite different therapeutic approaches leads us to think that the role of the treatments proposed so far is probably less than we believe. Additionally, we present a proposal for a diagnostic and therapeutic guide for this entity. Although the evidence in the literature is scarce and this guideline should be interpreted with caution, we believe that it can constitute a support resource for cases similar to ours., (© 2022 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Introduction: The diagnostic performance of capillary ketonemia (CK) has been previously evaluated in context of pediatric acute gastroenteritis. To our knowledge, there is no literature on its performance in the setting of pediatric acute appendicitis (PAA)., Materials and Methods: In this study, 151 patients were prospectively included and divided into two groups: (1) patients with non-surgical abdominal pain in whom the diagnosis of PAA was excluded (n = 53) and (2) patients with a confirmed diagnosis of PAA (n = 98). In 80 patients (Group 1, n = 23 and group 2, n = 57) a CK was measured at the time of diagnosis. The PAA group was further classified into complicated (n = 18) and uncomplicated PAA (n = 39). Quantitative variables were compared between groups using the Mann-Whitney U test. Diagnostic performance of CK was evaluated with ROC curves., Results: CK values were 0.3 [0.1-0.9] mmol/L in group 1 and 0.7 [0.4-1.4] mmol/L in group 2 (p = 0.01). Regarding the type of PAA, CK values were 0.6 [0.4-0.9] mmol/L in uncomplicated PAA and 1.2 [0.8-1.4] mmol/L in complicated PAA (p = 0.02). The AUC for the discrimination between groups 1 and 2 was 0.68 (95% IC 0.53-0.82) (p = 0.24) and the AUC for the discrimination between uncomplicated PAA and complicated PAA was 0.69 (95% IC 0.54-0.85) (p = 0.04). The best cut-off point (group 1 vs group 2) resulted in 0.4 mmol/L, with a sensitivity of 80.7% and a specificity of 52.2%. The best cut-off point (non-complicated vs complicated PAA) resulted in 1.1 mmol/L, with a sensitivity of 61.1% and a specificity of 76.9%., Conclusions: This study found significantly higher levels of CK in patients with PAA than in those with NSAP. Similarly, significantly higher levels were observed in patients with complicated than in those with uncomplicated PAA. Nevertheless, the diagnostic performance of CK was only moderate in the two settings analyzed. The potential usefulness of CK determination as a tool to guide the preoperative rehydration regimen of patients with PAA to prevent postoperative hyporexia and vomiting is a promising line of research and should be evaluated in future studies., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) has a moderate diagnostic performance in pediatric acute appendicitis (PAA). The evidence regarding its capacity to discern between complicated and uncomplicated PAA is scarce., Methods: We designed a prospective observational study to validate serum IL-6 as a marker for diagnostic classification between complicated and uncomplicated PAA. This study included 205 patients divided into three groups: (1) patients who underwent major outpatient surgery (n = 57); (2) patients with non-surgical abdominal pain (NSAP) in whom the diagnosis of PAA was excluded (n = 53), and (3) patients with a confirmed diagnosis of PAA (n = 95). The PAA patients were further classified as uncomplicated or complicated PAA. IL-6 concentration was determined in all patients at diagnosis. Comparative statistical analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney U test, the Fisher exact test and the Kruskall Wallis test. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) were calculated., Results: Median (interquartile range, IQR) serum IL-6 values were 2 pg/mL (2.0-3.4) in group 1, 3.9 pg/mL (2.4-11.9) in group 2, and 23.9 pg/mL (11.1-61.0) in group 3 (P < 0.001). Among the participants in group 3, those with uncomplicated PAA had median (IQR) serum IL-6 values of 17.2 pg/mL (8.5-36.8), and those with complicated PAA had 60.25 pg/mL (27.1-169) serum IL-6 (P < 0.001). At the cut-off point of 19.55 pg/mL, the AUC for the discrimination between patients in group 2 vs. 3 was 0.83 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.76-0.90], with a sensitivity of 61.3% and a specificity of 86.8. The AUC for the discrimination between patients with uncomplicated and complicated PAA was 0.77 (95% CI 0.68-0.86) and the cut-off point was 25.90 pg/mL, with a sensitivity and specificity of 84.6% and 65.6%, respectively., Conclusions: Serum IL-6 has a good performance in discerning between complicated and uncomplicated PAA. A score including clinical and radiological variables may increase the diagnostic performance of this molecule., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Introduction: Pediatric acute appendicitis (PAA) is a pathology with a high rate of diagnostic error. The search for new diagnostic tools is justified by the high morbidity and healthcare costs associated with diagnostic error., Methods: We designed a prospective study to validate serum pentraxin-3 (PTX3) as a diagnostic tool in PAA. Participants were divided into three groups: (1) patients with no underlying pathology (2) patients with non-surgical abdominal pain and (3) patients with a confirmed diagnosis of PAA. For further analyses, patients in group 3 were divided into complicated or uncomplicated PAA. Quantitative variables were expressed as medians and interquartile ranges and categorical variables as percentages. Quantitative variables were compared using the Kruskal-Wallis test and the Mann-Whitney U test. Diagnostic performance was evaluated with ROC curves., Results: This study included 215 patients divided into group 1 (n = 63), group 2 (n = 53) and group 3 (n = 99). Median serum PTX3 values were 2.54 (1.70-2.95) ng/mL, 3.29 (2.19-7.64) ng/mL and 8.94 (6.16-14.05) in groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively (p = 0.001). Patients with complicated PAA showed significantly higher values than patients with uncomplicated PAA (p = 0.04). The AUC (group 2 vs. 3) was 0.77 (95% CI 0.69-0.85) and the best cut-off point was at 7.28 ng/mL, with a sensitivity of 61.3% and a specificity of 73.1%. The AUC (complicated vs. uncomplicated PAA) was 0.65 (95% CI 0.54-0.77) and the best cut-off point was 12.33 ng/mL, with a sensitivity of 51.72% and a specificity of 72.73%., Conclusions: The diagnostic ability of serum PTX3 in PAA is only moderate and therefore it cannot be considered a definitive diagnostic test. The discriminatory ability of PTX3 between complicated and uncomplicated PAA is poor. These findings, which contrast with those reported to date, should be validated with future properly designed prospective studies., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Introduction: NGAL has recently been studied as a biomarker in the diagnostic context of pediatric acute appendicitis (PAA), although existing series are scarce and have limited sample sizes., Materials and Methods: A prospective observational study was designed to validate serum NGAL as a diagnostic tool in PAA. This study included 215 patients, divided into 3 groups: (1) patients undergoing major outpatient surgery (n = 63), (2) patients with non-surgical abdominal pain in whom a diagnosis of PAA was excluded (n = 53) and (3) patients with a confirmed diagnosis of PAA (n = 99). Patients in group 3 were divided into complicated or uncomplicated appendicitis. In 201 patients, a serum sample was obtained at the time of diagnosis and NGAL concentration was determined by ELISA. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to assess normality. Comparative statistical analyses were performed using the Mann-Whitney U test, the Kruskal-Wallis test and the Fisher's exact test. To calculate the discriminative ability of the molecule, the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curves (AUC) was calculated. A p value < 0.05 established statistical significance., Results: Median (interquartile range) of serum NGAL values were 38.88 (27.15-48.04) ng/mL (group 1), 51.84 (37.33-69.80) ng/mL (group 2) and 65.06 (50.50-86.60) ng/mL (group 3). The AUC (group 2 vs 3) was 0.642 (95% CI 0.542-0.741) (p < 0.001) and the best cutoff point was found to be at 40.97 ng/mL, with a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 34.6%. No statistically significant differences in serum NGAL values were found between patients with uncomplicated PAA and those with complicated PAA., Conclusions: This prospective validation study with a large sample size confirms that the diagnostic yield of NGAL in the context of PAA is only moderate, and therefore, it should not be used as a unique diagnostic tool. Furthermore, NGAL is not a valid biomarker to discern between uncomplicated and complicated PAA., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

The presence of ectopic adrenal remnants in the inguinal canal is an infrequent finding in pediatric patients. We performed a retrospective review of all pediatric patients diagnosed with ectopic adrenal tissue as an incidental finding during surgery of the inguinal canal at our center between 2000 and 2021. Six patients were included. The mean age was 3.83 ± 2.91 years. 3 (50%) were Arab and 3 (50%) were Caucasian. All patients were male. Five of the patients (83.3%) underwent surgery for testicular maldescent and one patient (16.6%) underwent surgery for a left hydrocele. 4 patients were operated on the right side (66%) and 2 on the left side (33%). Histologically, the presence of ectopic adrenal tissue was confirmed in all patients. All patients are healthy, discharged and under ambulatory follow-up. The existing literature suggests that ectopic adrenal remnants do not appear to have clinical or prognostic implications.

Background: Despite the radiological and analytical advances of the last decades, there is still a significant rate of diagnostic error in pediatric acute appendicitis. In recent years, multiple biomarkers have emerged as potential diagnostic tools. This study aimed to examine the diagnostic performance of serum interleukin-6 in pediatric acute appendicitis., Methods: We conducted a systematic review of the literature that involved an extensive search in the main databases of medical bibliography (Medline, PubMed, Web of Science and SciELO). Two independent reviewers selected the relevant articles based on the previously defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Methodological quality of the selected article was rated using the QUADAS2 index. Data extraction was performed by two independent reviewers., Results: The research in the medical bibliography databases resulted in 68 articles. We removed 26 duplicates. Among the remaining 42 articles, we excluded 33 following the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Of the final 9 studies included in this review, 8 provided measured serum interleukin-6 values, and all of them reported significant differences between groups, but inconsistent results regarding sensitivity and specificity., Conclusions: The diagnostic performance of interleukine-6 alone for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in children is limited. The sensitivity and specificity of interleukine-6 for the diagnosis of non-complicated acute appendicitis in the pediatric population are moderate but increased in complicated appendicitis. There seems to be a direct relationship between serum level of interleukin-6 and the hours of evolution of abdominal pain in children with acute appendicitis. The increasingly widespread use of non-operative management of acute appendicitis warrants further exploration of the classificatory potential of this marker between complicated and uncomplicated appendicitis. We consider that this may be an avenue of research to explore in the future., (© 2021. Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine.)

We describe the case of a 41-day-old infant with a left craniofacial cervical and subglottic hemangioma with respira-tory symptoms. Although infantile hemangiomas are occasional benign vascular tumors that appear predominantly on the skin, 1-2% of patients may have airway lesions that can sometimes cause potentially life-threatening respiratory condi-tions. The decision was made to immediately commence treatment with propranolol, without waiting to complete the exten-sion and syndromic diagnoses. There was a positive clinical response and respiratory symptoms dissipated in twelve hours. Early treatment with beta-blockers is essential for children with hemangiomas whose location causes symptoms or significant functional changes: in some cases it may be a matter of urgency.

Introduction: Under the actual controversy about the management of hydronephrosis for ureteropelvic junction obstruction, our objective has been to evaluate the indications and the effects of pyeloplasty as therapeutic option., Material and Methods: We have reviewed the charts of patients who underwent pyeloplasty, in special concerns at the preoperatory study and the postoperatory control by means of differential renal function (DRF) and half-time drainage (T1/2) on curves of Tc99m MAG3 diuretic renogram, and the effects in the body growth., Results: Between 1995-1999 a total of 16 patients (17 kidneys) underwent pyeloplasty (range: 2 months to 12 years), selecting for the surgical treatment the symptomatic cases and the asymptomatics with alteration of renographic curve and/or DRF. The left side was involved in 12 cases, the right side in 3, and one case was bilateral. The malformation was detected by prenatual ultrasonography on 56.25% of cases and by several symptoms (abdominal pain, infection) in remaIns. The preoperatory DRF was normal (> or = 45%) in 53.3% and deteriorated in 46.7%. Postoperatively, global differential renal function improved significantly, with normal values in 66.7% of kidneys at first control and 75% at the second one. All the cases presented before surgery an obstructed renographic curve, with a half-time superior to 20 minutes; after pyeloplasty the excretory pattern in the diuresis renogram improved significantly, with a normal pattern (T1/2 < 10') in 54%, indeterminate (T1/2 between 11 and 20') in 26.7% and obstructive (T1/2 > 20') in 20% of cases. At the age of surgery, 29.4% of children was below the 50th percentile in weight; postoperatively, only 5.9% was, demonstrating a significant increment in all the cases., Conclusions: Pyeloplasty is an effective technique for the treatment of ureteropelvic junction obstruction in the selected cases, demonstrating a significant of differential renal function and body growth.

The specialty of paediatric surgery (P.S.) has been officially recognized in Spain since 1977 as being independent of other surgical areas, and charged with carrying out pathological surgery in paediatric ages. In spite of the considerable progress made, it suffers constant threats, which is why we feel it is opportune to review various aspects of the problems it is currently facing. If we observe how the specialty is distributed, we can see that there are many paediatric services and professorships which do not send their patients to a P.S. specialist. The child's health may suffer as a result of the Administration's decision to allow twenty-two provinces (seven million inhabitants) to go without P.S. We know that many specialties carry out surgery on the paediatric population, so we may well ask: What use is the P.S. qualification? Information was collected from legal sources which indicates the need to hold the qualification of "homologated specialist", given that "the doctor who ventures into specialties which are not his/her own may add a risk factor, and thereby give rise more easily to an offence of negligence". It is time that concepts and competences of the specialty were clarified, and to fight to ensure that all Spanish children should be operated on by legally qualified specialists.

The authors describe their experience with the correction of prominent ears using a modified Chongchet technique. This method is based on the investigations of GIBSON and DAVIS (1958), who showed the tendency of cartilage to warp when one surface is cut. The prominent ear is folded back to produce the desired antihelix fold, which is outlined with methylene blue. An elliptical piece of retroauricular skin is excised. An incision is made through the whole thickness of the cartilage, following the posterior marked linea of the new antihelical fold, from the superior crus to the tail of antihelix. The anterior surface of the cartilage is dissected from the skin. A series of parallel incisions are made through the taut outer layer of the future fold. The tension on that side is released, and therefore it will bend towards the opposite side. The antihelical fold is corrected. This method was used in 192 patients with prominent ears. The results were satisfactory, with a normal-looking fold of antihelix. No recurrence of the deformity was seen.

An explanation of the different surgical techniques used preoperatively, during the operation or immediately after, to eliminate postoperative pain or reduce the anesthetic level required. An elevation according to such general factors as atmosphere, posture, sedatives, as well as various local or trunk infiltrations and epidural or subarachnoidal blocks.

Anatomy and physiology of the anorectum has been studied with manometric techniques in a normal group (n = 34) and in patients with anorectal pathology (n = 477). Authors comment manometric anomalies found in anorectal atresias, Hirschsprung's disease, constipation, neurogenic disorders (spina bifida, sacral agenesia) and the value in diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic measures that this technique demonstrates.