Aims-To evaluate whether isolated Horner's syndrome presenting in the first year of life warrants investigation. Method-Retrospective review of 23 children presenting with Horner's syndrome in the first year of life. Results-In 16 patients (70%) no cause was identified. Birth trauma was the most common identifiable cause (four patients). Twenty one children (91%) had urinary vanillylmandelic acid (VMA) measured and 13 patients (57%) underwent either computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging of the chest and neck. These investigations revealed previously undisclosed pathology in only two-one ganglioneuroma of the left pulmonary apex and one cervical neuroblastoma. A further patient was known to have abdominal neuroblastoma before presenting with Horner's syndrome. There were no cases of Horner's syndrome occurring after cardiothoracic surgery. Long term follow up of the patients (mean 9.3 years) has not revealed further pathology. Conclusions-Routine diagnostic imaging of isolated Horner's syndrome in infancy is unnecessary. Infants should be examined for cervical or abdominal masses and involvement of other cranial nerves. If the Horner's syndrome is truly isolated then urinary VMA levels and follow up in conjunction with a paediatrician should detect any cases associated with neuroblastoma. Further investigation is warranted if the Horner's syndrome is acquired or associated with other signs such as increasing heterochromia, a cervical mass, or cranial nerve palsies. (Br J Ophthalmol 1998;82:51-54) Horner's syndrome occurs as a result of a lesion anywhere along the oculosympathetic pathway from the hypothalamus to the orbit.

A patient with an axillary artery gunshot wound pseudoaneurysm was evaluated and managed with computed tomographic angiogram and endovascular stent graft. Vascular injuries resulting from penetrating trauma or interventional vascular procedures are relatively uncommon. Subclavian and axillary arterial injuries may be associated with substantial morbidity and mortality if not managed expeditiously. The inaccessibility of these arteries makes stent graft treatment particularly attractive. The stable patient with a pseudoaneurysm or an arteriovenous fistula seems to be the ideal candidate to treat in this way. As computed tomography (CT) technology has evolved, CT angiography has become an integral part of the initial assessment of proximal extremity vascular injuries.

Overall compliance with the clinical pathway was poor, except as it related to compliance with radiologic documentation, appropriate assignment to surgical service line, and antimicrobial duration. These results suggest areas for future improvement to augment compliance with the clinical pathway.