Carcinoma of the colon in children

The symptoms, histology, extent and course of disease in 16 adolescents with colorectal carcinoma who were admitted to Hacettepe University Children's Hospital between 1972 and 1990 are presented. Most patients presented with vague abdominal complaints. Twelve of the 16 patients had mucin-producing adenocarcinoma. Extensive disease at diagnosis and unresponsiveness to medical management were determined. Only one patient survived free of disease four years after diagnosis. Nine of the patients died between one day and one year following the initial surgery. The remaining six patients were very ill when they were discharged from the hospital, after which time no information was received concerning them

Infantile myofibromatosis: a case with unusual features and review of the literature

A three-month-old boy was admitted for a slowly progressing nodule in his right chin, first recognized at birth and recently accompanied by facial paralysis. It was found to be a soft tissue mass arising in subcutaneous tissue and extending deep into the temporal muscle, causing temporal bone erosion without infiltrating the dura. Initially interpreted as mesenchymal chondrosarcoma, combined chemotherapy (PULSE-VAC) was given. Eighteen months later an additional nodule developed In the paraspinal skin. Evaluation of both lesions showed vimentin and α-smooth-muscle-action positivity. As the final diagnosis was multicenlric infantile myofibromatosis, the child was followed up without therapy. Thirty months later, multiple osteolytic lesions appeared on the skull and long bones of the extremities. Some lesions remained stable and some regressed during two years of follow-up