Seventeen cases of a solitary polyp of posterior urethra in children (ages ranged between 4 months and 12 years) are presented. All patients were treated endoscopically using a 10 Fr. pediatric cystoscope, equipped with a straight ahead lens, and a Bugbee 3 Fr. electrode to fulgurate the stalk of the polyp through the urethra, without meatotomy. No complications or relapses are recorded, which proves the safety and the efficiency of the transurethral endoscopic resection in all pediatric ages. With the exception of one case, the smallest polyp of the series, lost because entirely burnt during the electrocution, all polyps were recuperated and examined histologically. The dimensions of the polyps ranged from 4 mm to 27 mm length. Their shape varied from a long "cordon-like" peduncle to a short stalk, "balloon-like" appendix. The histologic features were similar, the main component was an axis of connective tissue and vessels, surrounded by transitional epithelium, usually described as a fibroepithelial polyp.

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A case of malignant schwannoma occurring in an 11-year-old boy is described. To our knowledge, this is the third case of malignant juxta-adrenal schwannoma reported in the literature. It was misdiagnosed at the onset of the disease as a post-traumatic renal hematoma. Angiography revealed that the tumor derived its blood supply from collateral vessels of the aorta, splenic, and left gastric arteries. An analysis of the diagnosis, clinical course, and prognostic factors of this rare tumor is performed.

Vast epidemiologic studies have shown that varicocele becomes manifest at the beginning of sexual maturation and its incidence gradually increases in patients between 10-16 years. This percentage is 16-18% in adolescents and is comparable to that of the adult male population. Since varicocele first appears in early adolescence and its gonadotoxic effect increases with age, the possibility of improved fertility rate with early varicocelectomy has been suggested. We report the results of a comparative follow-up study to value the efficacy of surgical correction in two groups of adolescent and adult patients. Our study shows that early recognition and treatment of a severe varicocele provide a higher fertility rate and can prevent the reduced fertility rate associated with delayed varicocelectomy.

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