Long-term outcomes after pollicization: a mean 11-year follow-up study.

This study evaluates the long-term results of pollicization for a congenitally absent or severely hypoplastic thumb. Twenty-nine patients with 34 pollicizations were divided to two groups: those with simple thumb hypoplasia (22 pollicizations) and those with radial longitudinal dysplasia (12 pollicizations). The patients were followed from 1.3 to 32 years, with a mean follow-up time of 11 years. The patients were examined clinically and radiologically, and they completed a questionnaire concerning satisfaction with appearance, function, and social interaction. The Percival score was also calculated. In both groups, grip and pinch strengths of the operated hands were inferior to the normative age-related values. Radiologically, flattening of the original metacarpal head was found in 20 out of the 34 operated hands. We found better patient satisfaction in the simple hypoplasia group than in the radial longitudinal dysplasia group. The functional outcomes and patients' satisfaction did not correlate with the age of patients at operation. Level of evidence: IV.

[Recurrent pneumonia in a teenage boy]. / Teini-ikäisen pojan toistuvat keuhkokuumeet.

Pneumonia is a common paediatric and juvenile infection, which upon proper treatment will almost always heal completely. Sometimes pneumonia will become prolonged or recur, causing the need to consider additional investigations. Refractory or recurrent pneumonia in children may be caused by a structural, functional or immunological factor. Diseases of the lung tissue are rare. We describe a teenage boy, whose recurrent pneumonia revealed an underlying malignant disease, mucoepidermioid carcinoma.