Childhood obesity is a prevalent and progressive disease with few successful treatment options. Not only have increasing numbers of children and adolescents been affected over the years, but the average weight achieved by obese individuals has soared as well. Pediatric…
Thyroid Gland The thyroid gland is one of the largest endocrine organs in the body. Despite this, surgical diseases of the thyroid gland in children are uncommon. In one study, thyroid disease requiring operative intervention was found to occur in…
Development, Anatomy, and Physiology At the end of week 4 of human embryonic development, paired thickenings appear in the ectoderm on the ventral aspect of the torso. Extending from the axilla to the inguinal region, they form the mammary ridges…
Surgeons who care for girls and young women must be equipped to recognize and treat a variety of developmental and acquired disorders of the female genital tract spanning from neonatal life through adulthood. Most of the gynecologic surgical problems facing…
Lesions of the head and neck in children can be subdivided by etiology as those resulting from infection, trauma, neoplasm, or those of congenital origin. The more common benign neoplasms including hemangiomas, lymphangiomas, and cystic hygromas are discussed in Chapter…
Vascular anomalies are broadly divided into two groups based on biologic and clinical behavior: vascular tumors and vascular malformations. Vascular tumors are true neoplasms that arise from cellular hyperplasia. In contrast, vascular malformations are congenital lesions originating from errors of…
Melanocytic nevi are a common finding in children. By age 10 years, the mean nevus count among white children is 10–30 and 5–10 among African, Asian, and Native American children. These lesions are frequently encountered by pediatricians and can be…
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common form of soft tissue sarcoma, accounting for 5% of all childhood cancers. It is the third most common pediatric extracranial solid tumor after Wilms tumor and neuroblastoma. RMS is a malignant tumor of mesenchymal…
Lymphomas are a result of chromosomal alterations resulting in the uncontrolled growth of cells of lymphoid origin. In children, lymphomas are the third most common type of cancer, accounting for 11% of new diagnoses under the age of 15 and…
Teratomas Teratomas are generally divided into gonadal and extragonadal types. This chapter focuses on those in extragonadal locations, the most common being sacrococcygeal teratomas (SCT). Embryology and Pathology Teratoma, from the Greek teratos (“of the monster”) and onkoma (“swelling”), is…