Chronic Constipation and Its Complications: An Interesting Finding to an Otherwise Commonplace Problem.

Background. Fecalomas are hard dense masses separate from surrounding fecal material or bowel contents. This case report intends to provide a brief review of the literature and differential diagnosis for a pelvic mass in a pediatric patient. Case Presentation. The patient is a 5-year-old male presenting with worsening constipation and stool leakage over several months, found to have a rare calcified pelvic mass on abdominal X-ray consistent with a fecaloma. Conclusion. Fecalomas should be considered on the differential diagnosis of pediatric patients who present with chronic constipation and a calcified pelvic mass.

Estimated cumulative radiation dose from PET/CT in children with malignancies: a 5-year retrospective review.

BACKGROUND: The increasing use of serial PET/CT scans in the management of pediatric malignancies raises the important consideration of radiation exposure in children. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the cumulative radiation dose from PET/CT studies to children with malignancy and to compare with the data in literature. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred forty-eight clinical PET/CT studies performed on 78 patients (50 boys/28 girls, 1.3 to 18 years old from December 2002 to October 2007) were retrospectively reviewed under IRB approval. The whole-body effective dose (ED) estimates for each child were obtained by estimating the effective dose from each PET/CT exam performed using the ImPACT Patient Dosimetry Calculator for CT and OLINDA for PET. RESULTS: The average number of PET/CT studies was 3.2 per child (range: 1 to 14 studies). The average ED of an individual CT study was 20.3 mSv (range: 2.7 to 54.2), of PET study was 4.6 mSv (range: 0.4 to 7.7) and of PET/CT study was 24.8 mSv (range: 6.2 to 60.7). The average cumulative radiation dose per patient from CT studies was 64.4 mSv (range: 2.7 to 326), from PET studies was 14.5 mSv (range: 2.8 to 73) and from PET/CT studies was 78.9 mSv (range: 6.2 to 399). CONCLUSION: The radiation exposure from serial PET/CT studies performed in pediatric malignancies was considerable; however, lower doses can be used for both PET and CT studies. The ALARA principle must be applied without sacrificing diagnostic information.

Pediatric liver tumors--a pictorial review.

Hepatic masses constitute about 5-6% of all intra-abdominal masses in children. The majority of liver tumors in children are malignant; these malignant liver tumors constitute the third most common intra-abdominal malignancy in the pediatric age group after Wilms' tumor and neuroblastoma. Only about one third of the liver tumors are benign. A differential diagnosis of liver tumors in children can be obtained based on the age of the child, clinical information (in particular AFP) and imaging characteristics. The purpose of this review is to report typical clinical and imaging characteristics of benign and malignant primary liver tumors in children.

Congenital tracheobiliary fistula diagnosed with contrast-enhanced CT and 3-D reformation.

Congenital tracheobiliary fistula (CTBF) is a rare malformation. So far 24 cases have been reported in the English language literature. The imaging techniques used in diagnosis have been bronchography, fistulography, cholangiography, hepatobiliary nuclear imaging and MRI. We report a newborn patient who presented with right lung consolidation and biliptysis. The radiographic diagnosis of tracheobiliary fistula was made on multidetector CT scan of the chest and abdomen. Multiple 3-D volume-rendered reformations were performed. An abnormal air-filled tract was seen connecting the posteroinferior aspect of the carina and left biliary system, which was successfully treated surgically.