Introduction. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience changing routines as a major challenge. For that reason, the need for adaptation during COVID-19 pandemic may have brought major problems to families with children with this pathology. Aim. To explore how children with ASD and their parents experienced the social isolation during COVID-19 outbreak period. Subjects and methods. We conducted an observational, cross-sectional and analytical study. We applied an anonymous questionnaire that included children's demographic and clinical characteristics, along with the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in different aspects of family's daily life. Results. Out of 99 questionnaires obtained, 43 were related to children with ASD and 56 to control group. Children with ASD predominantly had changes in behavior, while children from control group mostly found no changes. The majority of parents of ASD children reported a negative impact in emotion management against those in control group reporting mostly positive or no impact. Caregivers reported higher mean scores of anxiety levels in themselves than in their children. ASD children and their parents had higher levels of anxiety than healthy ones. In the group with ASD, children that did not maintain routines had higher mean levels of anxiety than children that maintained routines. Conclusion. Our results show a potential important psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic not only in children with neurodevelopmental disorders but in their caregivers as well. Physicians must be prepared for the post-pandemic surveillance of mental disorders among families.

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Sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation (SANT) is a rare nonneoplastic splenic disorder of unknown etiopathogenesis. This condition is usually found incidentally on imaging studies. Because of its similar features, SANT can wrongly be described as metastatic carcinoma. A 61-year-old Caucasian male was referred to our general surgery outpatient clinic regarding unusual splenic nodular formations in a routine abdominal ultrasound. All diagnostic exams performed confirmed metastatic splenic lesions, but no primary tumor was found. A laparoscopic splenectomy was performed for diagnostic purposes. Histopathology revealed SANT. Benign tumors of the spleen are uncommon entities and can easily be mistaken by malignant secondary lesions. The differential diagnosis of SANT should include other vascular lesions as well as metastatic carcinoma and inflammatory pseudotumor. It is widely recommended that a splenectomy should be performed because only by histopathology and immunohistochemistry staining, the definitive diagnosis of SANT can be made.

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