Prenatally diagnosed neuroblastomas are predominantly adrenal in origin and frequently cystic. The liver is the most common site of dissemination and bone involvement is notably absent. The vast majority of these infants have a favorable stage of disease (I, II, and IV-S) and favorable biologic features, and consequently have an excellent prognosis. Although surgery alone is curative for most patients, a period of observation may avoid surgery in some individuals who may achieve spontaneous regression.
Histologic chorioamnionitis increases major perinatal morbidity through its association with preterm birth and is independently associated with neonatal death. In the presence of histologic chorioamnionitis, antenatal steroids significantly decreased the incidence of RDS, intraventricular hemorrhage and periventricular leukomalacia, major brain lesions, and neonatal mortality, without increasing neonatal sepsis.
Changes characteristic of biliary atresia may appear even after 9 weeks of age. Bile duct paucity and normal bile duct to portal space ratio do not preclude the subsequent development of biliary atresia. Infants with unexplained conjugated hyperbilirubinemia and acholic stools should undergo sequential liver biopsies until clinical improvement occurs or until biliary atresia can be excluded from the differential diagnosis.
We report a case of congenital pulmonary myofibroblastic tumor, and review prior reports of this rare neoplasm to demonstrate its clinically benign behavior despite histologic features previously interpreted as sarcoma. The patient, a female neonate, presented with severe respiratory distress after cesarean section delivery. A large radio-opaque mass was detected in the right hemithorax and resected by right bilobectomy. The tumor mass, confined to the lung, was composed of interlacing fascicles of plump spindle cells showing myofibroblastic differentiation and complex cytogenetic abnormalities. Though sarcomatous in appearance, with highly cellular areas and numerous mitoses, there has been neither tumor recurrence nor metastases. The patient remains alive and well 1 year after surgery. Review of the few other reported cases confirms the uniformly benign behavior of this tumor.
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