BackgroundAcute appendicitis (AA) is the most common surgical condition in children. Although a higher incidence of AA in summer has been reported, the reason for this observation remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical findings of AA patients who underwent appendectomies during the summer months with those who underwent the procedure during the non-summer months.MethodsThe clinical data of 171 patients who underwent appendectomy from January 2013 to December 2016 were reviewed. The patients were divided into a summer group (from May to October) and a non-summer group (from November to April) based on the month when appendectomy was performed. All patients were under 18 years of age at the time of surgery. The medical records including laboratory data, computed tomography scans, pathology reports and operative notes were reviewed.ResultsThe number of patients with AA was higher in the summer group than in the non-summer group (101 vs. 70 patients). No significant differences in the laboratory results between the two groups of patients were observed. The percentage of AA patients who presented with a fecalith was significantly lower in the summer group (33.6%) than in the non-summer group (55.7%). No significant differences in the incidence of appendiceal perforations and abscesses, as well as postoperative complications were observed between the two groups.ConclusionsThe percentage of AA patients with fecaliths in summer was lower than that in the non-summer months. The increase in the number of AA patients in summer may be due to the increased occurrence of lymphoid hyperplasia, which may be correlated with the yearly outbreak of enterovirus infection during this period.
Background Acute appendicitis (AA) is the most common surgical condition in children. Although a higher incidence of AA in summer has been reported, the reason for this observation remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical findings of AA patients who underwent appendectomies during the summer months with those who underwent the procedure during the non-summer months. Methods The clinical data of 171 patients who underwent appendectomy from January 2013 to December 2016 were reviewed. The patients were divided into a summer group (from May to October) and a non-summer group (from November to April) based on the month when appendectomy was performed. All patients were under 18 years of age at the time of surgery. Laboratory data, computed tomography scans, pathology reports and operative records were reviewed. Results The number of patients with AA was higher in the summer group than in the non-summer group (101 vs. 70 patients). No significant differences in the laboratory results between the two groups of patients were observed. The percentage of AA patients who presented with a fecalith was significantly lower in the summer group (33.6%) than in the non-summer group (55.7%). No significant differences in the incidence of appendiceal perforations and abscesses were observed between the two groups. Conclusions The percentage of AA patients with fecaliths in summer was lower than that in the non-summer months. The increase in the number of AA patients in summer may be due to the increased occurrence of lymphoid hyperplasia, which may be correlated with the yearly outbreak of enterovirus infection during this period.
Objectives: Some genetic causes of heterotaxy have been identified in a small number of heterotaxy familial cases or animal models. However, knowledge on the genetic causes of heterotaxy in the fetal population remains scarce. Here, we aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics and genetic spectrum of a fetal cohort with heterotaxy.Methods: We retrospectively investigated all fetuses with a prenatal diagnosis of heterotaxy at a single center between October 2015 and November 2020. These cases were studied using the genetic testing data acquired from a combination of copy number variation sequencing (CNV-seq) and whole-exome sequencing (WES), and their clinical phenotypes were also reviewed.Result: A total of 72 fetuses diagnosed with heterotaxy and complete clinical and genetic results were enrolled in our research. Of the 72 fetuses, 18 (25%) and 54 (75%) had left and right isomerism, respectively. Consistent with the results of a previous study, intracardiac anomalies were more severe in patients with right atrial isomerism than in those with left atrial isomerism (LAI) and mainly manifested as atrial situs inversus, bilateral right atrial appendages, abnormal pulmonary venous connection, single ventricles or single atria, and pulmonary stenosis or atresia. In 18 fetuses diagnosed with LAI, the main intracardiac anomalies were bilateral left atrial appendages. Of the 72 fetuses that underwent CNV-seq and WES, 11 (15.3%) had positive genetic results, eight had definitive pathogenic variants, and three had likely pathogenic variants. The diagnostic genetic variant rate identified using WES was 11.1% (8/72), in which primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD)-associated gene mutations (CCDC40, CCDC114, DNAH5, DNAH11, and ARMC4) accounted for the vast majority (n = 5). Other diagnostic genetic variants, such as KMT2D and FOXC1, have been rarely reported in heterotaxy cases, although they have been verified to play roles in congenital heart disease.Conclusion: Thus, diagnostic genetic variants contributed to a substantial fraction in the etiology of fetal heterotaxy. PCD mutations accounted for approximately 6.9% of heterotaxy cases in our fetal cohort. WES was identified as an effective tool to detect genetic causes prenatally in heterotaxy patients.
Splenic torsion is an unusual condition that results in congenital abnormality, especially in the visceral abnormal arrangement. We report the case of an 8.5-year-old boy with features in the right upper quadrant. Radiological investigations revealed heterotaxy syndrome with polysplenia and a hypodense tumor in the right upper quadrant adjacent to several spleens. We initially treated it as an intra-abdominal tumor. Laparoscopy was performed to check the tumor condition and revealed a congestive tumor located in the abdomen of the right upper quadrant below the central liver, which was suspected to be a torsion spleen without attaching ligaments. Laparoscopic splenectomy was successfully carried out without complications. The pathological report shows splenic tissue with hemorrhagic infarction. Physicians should be vigilant of the differential diagnosis of the acute abdomen in adolescents.
Background Acute appendicitis (AA) is the most common surgical condition in children. Although a higher incidence of AA in summer has been reported, the reason for this observation remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical findings of AA patients who underwent appendectomies during the summer months with those who underwent the procedure during the non-summer months. Methods The clinical data of 171 patients who underwent appendectomy from January 2013 to December 2016 were reviewed. The patients were divided into a summer group (from May to October) and a non-summer group (from November to April) based on the month when appendectomy was performed. All patients were under 18 years of age at the time of surgery. The medical records including laboratory data, computed tomography scans, pathology reports and operative notes were reviewed. Results The number of patients with AA was higher in the summer group than in the non-summer group (101 vs. 70 patients). No significant differences in the laboratory results between the two groups of patients were observed. The percentage of AA patients who presented with a fecalith was significantly lower in the summer group (33.6%) than in the non-summer group (55.7%). No significant differences in the incidence of appendiceal perforations and abscesses, as well as postoperative complications were observed between the two groups. Conclusions The percentage of AA patients with fecaliths in summer was lower than that in the non-summer months. The increase in the number of AA patients in summer may be due to the increased occurrence of lymphoid hyperplasia, which may be correlated with the yearly outbreak of enterovirus infection during this period.
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