Pediatric surgery international
-
In the years 1985-1992, ten pairs of conjoined twins were born in the United Arab Emirates (UAE): one dicephalus, two teratopagi, and seven thoracoomphalopagi, one of which was still-born and three who were cared for in other hospitals. The first pair of thoraco-omphalopagus twins died of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia 6 months after successful separation. The management of the third set of twins gave rise to moral and ethical problems often encountered in such situations, while one of the teratopagi was a unique case of a parasite projecting from the mouth of the normal twin.
-
Pediatr. Surg. Int. · Mar 1998
Case ReportsSpontaneous gastrointestinal perforation in very-low-birth-weight infants--a rare complication in a neonatal intensive care unit.
Over a 6-year period (1989-1995), gastrointestinal (GI) perforation was diagnosed in nine preterm infants (mean gestational age 27 weeks, mean birth weight 872 g). Three presented with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), two with indwelling-tube-induced perforation of the stomach, one with small-left-colon syndrome, and another with meconium ileus. Spontaneous intestinal perforation occurred in two similar very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants, in the distal ileum, on days 8 and 9 of life, respectively. ⋯ Their further clinical course was complicated by reperforation on day 32 and 39, respectively. They subsequently recovered and presented without GI problems at the corrected ages of 4 and 2 months, respectively. In contrast to high mortality of 57% in the group with non-spontaneous intestinal perforations, spontaneous perforation seems to have a good prognosis even in VLBW infants if diagnosed and treated promptly.