Urethral caruncle in a 9-year-old girl: a case report and review of the literature.

INTRODUCTION: Urethral caruncles are the most frequent benign tumors of the female urethra. Most of them are found in post-menopausal women, and they are rare in childhood. Only a few pediatric cases have been published in the literature. In this report, we present an unusual case of a pediatric patient with a urethral caruncle, along with a review of the literature. CASE PRESENTATION: A 9-year-old Mongolian girl was referred to our hospital with a 2-week history of frequent adherence of a small amount of blood to her underwear. We found a sessile smooth margin, a clear boundary and an elastic, soft red tumor over the entire circumference of the urethral meatus. At the beginning, because of the child's age, urethral prolapse was suspected. There was no response after 3 weeks of conservative treatment with steroid ointment. With the patient under general anesthesia, a partial tumor resection was performed for the purpose of histological examination. The tumor excision was limited to about 1/2 laps of the urethral meatus to prevent the development of urethral stricture. On the basis of clinical and histopathological examinations, a diagnosis of a urethral caruncle was made. Post-operatively, steroid ointment application to residual masses was continued, and these disappeared about 6 months later. Our patient was free of recurrence and had had no complications after 3 years of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Urethral caruncles are rare in children, and the possibility of malignancy is slight during this period. Biopsy of the mass is not required for diagnosis. It should be indicated only if the mass has other characteristics that raise suspicion of malignancy. In previously reported cases, all of the tumor was removed. However, the trigger of the caruncle in childhood is chronic inflammation. Conservative therapy with steroid ointment should be the core treatment. However, it may be necessary to proceed to treatment because caruncles take a long time to heal. The case that we describe in this report will serve as an example for similar cases in the future.

Intrapericardial extralobar pulmonary sequestration detected as an intrathoracic cystic mass by using prenatal ultrasonography: case report and review of the literature.

Intrapericardial extralobar pulmonary sequestration is a very rare congenital lung anomaly. We report a case of this condition, detected as an intrathoracic cystic lesion by using prenatal ultrasonography. The neonate was born at 38 weeks of gestation with no progression of the lesion and no respiratory or cardiac symptoms. Ultrasonography and computed tomography (CT) revealed a 40 × 17 × 17-mm intrapericardial lesion, composed of cystic components and a solid component. Intrapericardial extrapulmonary sequestration was suspected largely because CT showed a vague aberrant artery. At the age of 3 months, elective surgery was performed, and the postoperative course was uneventful.

Beneficial effects of (-)-epigallocatechin gallate on ischemia-reperfusion testicular injury in rats.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) on testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats. METHODS: Forty male Wistar rats were assigned to 5 groups. A sham operation was performed on the animals in group 1. In group 2, after 4 hours of unilateral testicular ischemia, 4 hours of testicular reperfusion was performed with EGCG administered 1 hour before reperfusion. In group 3, the same surgical procedure as in group 2 was performed, but without EGCG. Serum superoxide dismutase activity, creatine kinase, and lactate dehydrogenase were then measured in blood samples from groups 1 to 3. In group 4, after 4 hours of unilateral testicular ischemia, testicular reperfusion was performed. In group 5, the same procedure as in group 4 was performed, but with EGCG administered 1 hour before reperfusion. For groups 4 and 5, bilateral orchiectomy was performed for histologic examination 4 weeks after reperfusion was started. RESULTS: Serum superoxide dismutase activity was significantly higher in group 2 than in group 3. The ratios of bilateral testicular weight, mean seminiferous tubule diameter, and germinal epithelial cell thickness were significantly higher in group 5 than in group 4. CONCLUSIONS: Therapy with EGCG before reperfusion might exert protective effects via antioxidant activities in a rat experimental model of testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury.