[Alternatives to splenectomy in the surgical treatment of splenic injuries]. / Alternativas a la esplenectomía en el tratamiento quirúrgico de los traumatismos esplénicos.

Children with splenic trauma are managed conservatively in most circumstances, and the need for surgical interventions is very rare. When a surgical exploration is mandatory, splenic preservation is a worthwhile objective, using various suture methods, biomaterials, or resorbable prosteses. We present our experience over the 4 years with 9 severe splenic injuries. Six of this patients were treated operatively with a reabsorvable mesh, while the other 3 were managed percutaneosly by selective embolization of the splenic artery under fluoroscopic control. We describe our experience in the treatment of the splenic injuries in the last four years.

[Surgical options in the treatment of short bowel syndrome with loss of the ileocecal valve. Intestinal valve, intestinal duplication]. / Opciones quirúrgicas en el tratamiento del síndrome de intestino corto con pérdida de la válvula ileocecal. Válvula intestinal, desdoblamiento intestinal.

Morbidity and mortality are especially increased in pediatric patients affected of short bowel syndrome in whom ileocecal valve was resected. This report concerns 13 infants and children with short gut syndrome with ileocecal valve resected treated in the last 4 years. In two of them we performed intestinal duplication and in seven an antireflux intestinal valve with a segment of bowel. With that procedure we achieved a significant shortening of the hospital stay as well as reduction in time and quantity of total parenteral nutrition. The rest of the patients were treated with conservative management.

[Renal volumetric echography in the newborn infant with an agenetic, dysplastic or obstructive contralateral kidney]. / Volumetría ecográfica renal en el recién nacido con riñón contralateral agenésico, displásico u obstructivo.

In newborn babies with congenital renal pathology type agenesia, dysplasia or obstruction is very important to know if there is intrautero vicariant growing of the contralateral kidney. To find out that we have proceeded to be ultrasound volume measurement of the normal renal unit, as this is a valuable parameter related to compensatory mechanisms. We have studied by ultrasounds 28 renal units (16 right, 12 left) in newborns with contralateral pathology: pyeloureteral stenosis in 10 cases, multicystic kidney in 13 cases, renal agenesia in 3 cases, obstructive ureterocele in 1 case and another one with ureterovesical stenosis. We considered renal function, length of the larger renal axis width and depth of the kidney mass. Renal function was normal in all cases. Analysis of objectives results show a clear difference between the volume of normal Kidneys in children with contralateral pathology and the control group constituted by 42 renal unit in normal newborns without urological pathology. We conclude with the real evidence of compensatory growing of the normal contralateral kidney during intrautero periods.

[Intralobar pulmonary sequestration with multiple arterial blood supply]. / Secuestro pulmonar intralobar con irrigación arterial múltiple.

We report the case of a 4 years old boy, who presented at our institution with reiterative neumonia affecting left basal lobe. Anomalous vascular appearance was detected in the chest x-ray. With the suspicion of pulmonary sequestration we carried on Digital Intravenous Angiography by Substraction (DIVAS) and aortogram. The anomalous systemic arterial supply was formed by 6 vessels coming from the thoracic aorta and going into the left lower lobe basal segment. Lobectomy was performed and previous diagnosis was confirmed pathologically.

[Cantrell's pentalogy: complete treatment, step by step]. / Pentalogía de Cantrell: tratamiento completo, paso a paso.

Since MAYOR and CANTRELL described in 1953 and in 1958 the ectopia cordis associated to other four anomalies, few cases have been reported, and only a small part of them have survived. We report the case of a neonate who presented with the features of the pentalogy. On the 3rd day we found at operation the heart laying over the left hepatic lobe, no pericardium could be identified and diaphragm was absent at its anterior edge. We made an "isolating sac" with duramadre fixed to the anterior thoracic wall, to both sides and to the posterior diaphragmatic defect. The initial management of the ventral defect is described. At the age of two years we initiated the definitive treatment aiming to: 1. To protect the heart. 2. To correct the huge abdominal eventration following the closure of the omphalocele. We described in details the technic employed to cover the precordial defect, to reconstruct the diaphragm, and finally as we treated in three consecutives stages the huge abdominal eventration.

[Volvulus of the small intestine. Contribution of abdominal echography to early diagnosis]. / Volvulo de intestino delgado. Contribucion de la ecografia abdominal al diagnostico precoz.

We report six cases of small intestine volvulus associated to malrotation, out of a whole of 11 volvulus managed by us in the last six years. None of them were diagnosed with the only help of clinical and conventional radiological explorations. In the other three cases the diagnosis was made through ultrasounds explorations: It showed the mesenteric vein on the left side of the mesenteric artery. Confirmation and resolution of the cases were reached with a laparotomy.

[Ectopic gastric mucosa in the proximal esophagus]. / Mucosa gástrica ectópica en esófago proximal.

Gastric mucosa is not found often in the proximal and medial esophagus. Hematemesis and dysphagia are the most frequent symptoms. We report a six year-old child who complained of difficulty in swallowing. A filling defect was detect in the esophagogram. We biopsied the suspected area, through an endoscopy and the pathological examination informed of ectopic gastric mucosa. We performed a 99Tc isotopic study. The child is on ambulatory controls and at the moment is asymptomatic.