Absceso tiroideo con fístula del seno piriforme: tres casos clínicos / Thyroid abscess with pyriform sinus fistulae: 3 clinical cases

Thyroid abscess is an infrequent, potentially life-threatening condition. It accounts for 0,1 to 0,7 percent of thyroid pathology, usually occurring in patients with preexisting disease of the gland or more commonly, associated to local anatomical defects, such pyriform sinus fistulae. Three cases of thyroid abscess in children are presented, in which no bacterial etiology was confirmed. Intravenous antibiotics were used, cefotaxime, cloxacillin or clindamicin. Recurrence was confirmed in 2 of them, and a pyriform sinus fistulae was demostrated by esophagogram.

El absceso tiroideo es un cuadro infrecuente y una emergencia endocrina potencialmente fatal. Representa el 0,1 a 0,7 por ciento de las patologías tiroideas. Habitualmente se produce en pacientes con patología preexistente de la glándula o más frecuentemente, asociado a defectos anatómicos locales, como una fístula del seno piriforme. Presentamos 3 casos de abscesos tiroideos en escolares. Recibieron tratamiento antibiótico endovenoso de amplio espectro, a pesar de lo cual dos de ellos recidivaron precozmente. En dos de ellos se demostró una fístula del seno piriforme con esofagograma que se manejó quirúrgicamente.

Litiasis biliar en niños: un estudio clínico-morfológico / Clinical and morphological features of choletithiasis in children

Background: The use of ultrasonography increased the frequency of diagnosis of cholelithiasis in childhood. Aim: To determine the clinical and laboratory features and follow up of children with biliary stones. Patients and methods: Twenty six children (13 male, aged 1 month to 14 years) were prospectively enrolled. Results : Nine children had a past medical history of factors potentially predisposing to stones. A clinical presentation with vomiting (50 percent), abdominal pain (46 percent) and jaundice (23 percent) was the most common indication for surgery. The diagnosis was based on abdominal ultrasound in all children. Cholecystectomy was performed in 15 children (laparoscopy in 13 and open surgery in 2). Children who underwent surgery were older than those who did not undergo surgery (p <0.001), but they did not have differences in liver function tests. Eight children had pigmented stones and seven had cholesterol stones. Conclusions : In our patients, neither family history nor laboratory tests were useful in the diagnosis as well as in the clinical decision of surgery, which was based on symptoms. The presence of cholesterol stones in a high proportion of these children may be a unique situation in Chile, considering the high prevalence of this disease in the adult population