Abdominal Masses In Infants Research Articles

Factors producing spurious obstruction of the inferior vena cava in infants and children with abdominal tumors.

Inferior vena cavography has been suggested for initial roentgenographic evaluation of abdominal masses in infants and children (2, 3, 6, 7). The procedure has been proposed as a means of determining both malignancy and operability (2). The two common tumors encountered, Wilms's tumor and neuroblastoma, are readily diagnosed in the majority of patients by ordinary intravenous urography. We wish to report serious problems, seemingly inherent in the interpretation of inferior vena cavograms, that critically limit their usefulness. There is a high incidence of faint to nonvisualization of the inferior vena cava accompanied by massive shunting through pelvic veins to the rich retroperitoneal ascending lumbar collateral channels leading to the azygos system. These pathways were repeatedly seen in patients in whom the inferior vena cava was either normal at operation or merely displaced and partially compressed. The factors producing such spurious caval obstruction include a large mass adjacent to the inferior ...

WHALEN JP: ROLE OF CATECHOLAMINE EXCRETION IN DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF NEUROBLASTOMA: REPORT OF TWO CASES.

Neuroblastoma is one of the most common neoplasms presenting as an abdominal mass in infants and children. Traditionally, the principal laboratory guide for preoperative diagnosis has been roentgen examination. The characteristic finding on intravenous pyelography is a soft-tissue mass containing focal areas of calcification which displaces the ipsilateral kidney but does not distort the renal pelvis. Areas of bony destruction are common in cases of advanced disease and metastases. Despite these criteria for diagnosis, it is well known that the radiologist frequently cannot differentiate an abdominal neuroblastoma from a Wilms's tumor or some other mass; the bony lesions may simulate Ewing's tumor. Sufficient information is often lacking for a preoperative diagnosis of neuroblastoma, and, in addition, physical and roentgen examination may not be adequate to evaluate the results of subsequent radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Recent investigations in several laboratories have demonstrated abnormal urinary exc...

Abdominal Masses in Infants and Children

Abdominal Masses in Infants and Children

Asymptomatic abdominal masses in infants and children.

By careful abdominal examination of the infant or child, the physician may detect an abdominal mass which has not produced symptoms. The finding of an abdominal mass under these circumstances is of great importance to the patient, because it affords the physician the opportunity to treat the lesion not only when the possibility for cure is feasible but when the chance for cure can be greatly increased. Accidents are still the greatest cause of death in children, and the second cause of death is benign and malignant tumors. During the past 15 years there has been a dramatic decrease in the death rate in infants and children from infectious diseases, so that today the juvenile population has increased. With this increase, the number of infants and children having an abdominal mass is potentially increased. The majority of abdominal masses in this age group are of congenital origin, and the time