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Echinococcosis is a multisystem disease and has propensity to involve any organ, an unusual anatomical site, and can mimic any disease process. The hydatid cyst of the mesenteries known to occur secondary to hepatic involvement but occasional cases of his primitive form has also been reported. We report here one such case of primitive mesenteric hydatid cyst herniated through inguinal canal in a 5-yr-old boy, admitted to our Pediatric Surgery Department of Children's Hospital in Tunis, Tunisia in 2015., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests.

Background: Diaphragmatic eventration (ED) is a rare anomaly defined by a permanent elevation of a hemidiaphragm without defects. Clinical manifestations are diverse, ranging from asymptomatic to life-threatening respiratory distress. The aim of this study is to report our experience of management of eight children with ED over the past 15 years., Methods: A retrospective study was conducted involving 8 infants and children with ED managed at the department of pediatric surgery of Tunis Children's Hospital., Results: Five patients (2 males, 3 females) whose ages ranged from 5 month to 7 years (mean, 13 months) were operated on using diaphragmatic plication (3 right-sided and 2 left-sided plications) for symptomatic ED with a dramatic improvement in their respiratory status. Another infant (a 3-month-old boy) was admitted for respiratory distress that required mechanical ventilatory support. He died before operation because of sepsis. Two other asymptomatic patients with incidentally diagnosed ED were followed up for 5 years on average. Chest x-ray suggested eventration in all cases. Ultrasound was found to be a useful modality for diagnosis in 6 cases. There were no cases of associated malformation., Conclusion: Diaphragmatic eventration in children is usually congenital but may be acquired. Chest ultrasound is an important imaging modality for diagnosis. Diaphragmatic plication appears to be safe and effective. Surgical intervention is not recommended in asymptomatic patients.

Perforated Meckel's diverticulum (MD) in a preterm baby is very rare. We report a case of a very preterm baby, born at 29-week gestation, with a birth weight of 1400 g, admitted in the third hour of life to our intensive care unit (ICU) for respiratory distress syndrome with abdominal distention. An abdominal radiograph showed a pneumoperitoneum. Laparotomy revealed Meckel's perforation. The baby was discharged healthy at the age of 16 days. MD should be kept in mind as one cause of an acute abdomen in preterm neonates mimicking necrotizing enterocolitis. To our knowledge, our patient is the third reported case described in the literature and the first one revealed at birth.

Background: Esophageal perforation is uncommon and often iatrogenic., Aim: To report a neonatal case of esophageal perforation., Case: A premature newborn boy was admitted with a diagnosis of oesophageal atresia after several unsuccessful attempts to insert an orogastric tube. A chest x-ray showed a "high pouch" with a gasless intestine. At operation, no atresia was found and a large traumatic perforation of the lower cervical segment was identified, requiring cervicotomy and primary closure. Oral feeding was started after 3 weeks. As a result, nosocomial sepsis occurred, causing death in the third month after surgical treatment., Conclusion: Oesophageal perforation in the neonate is often iatrogenic and may mimic oesophageal atresia. The authors highlight the importance of early diagnosis and management.

The aim of this study was to identify the prognostic factors of intraoperative haemorrhage, perioperative blood transfusions and morbidity. We collected 120 splenectomies in Beau Séjour department of surgery, Charles' Nicolle Hospital, Tunis, Tunisia between 1979 and 1999. The descriptive analysis showed sex-ratio 0.82 with mean age (+/- standard deviation) 30.6 +/- 15 year. Idiopathic thrombopenic purpura was the principal disease indicating splenectomy. Morbidity was defined as occurrence of post operative peritoneal sepsis or bleeding. The mortality and morbidity rates were respectively 0.8% and 6.6%. The prognostic analysis didn't identify predictive factors of intraoperative haemorrhage, however it identified two independent predictive actors of specific morbidity: intraoperative haemorrhage (p = 0.03) and preoperative rate of haemoglobin (p = 0.0049).