Objectives: To develop the first Spanish Pediatric Trauma Registry to collect and evaluate infornation concerning aspects of injuries in our pediatric population. Methods: From January 1995 to August 1998.946 children younger than 16 years were treated in our hospital for acute injury: 1500 were admitted and ineluded in our database. Dur file registry consists of 108 data points ineluding: patient identification, type. place and mechanism of injury, pre-hospital care, transport, assess· ment on admission, severity scores, diagnostic studies, injuries, treatment morbidity and mortality. Results: Aceidents were more frequent in males (68 %) than in fern ales. The predominant age group was 12 -15 years of age (34%). Aceidents were more frequent in the street (35.1 %) than at horne (18.9%) or school (13%). Falls and traffic-related aceidents were the leading cause of injury (39% and 21.2%, respectively). Two hundred and thirty-five (15.7%) had a Pediatric Trauma Score::; 8. Fifty of these sustained multiple trauma (33 %) (Injury Severity Scorẽ 15). Musculoskeletal and head trauma were the most frequent injuries (48.5% and 42.0%, respectively). Surgical or orthopedic procedures were performed in 906 patients (56.5 %). The average Jength of stay was 4.5 days (range 1 -93 days). Functional impairment in children older than 4 years of age was found in 413 children (33.3 %). We encountered 7 deaths in the 1500 patients, or an overall mortality of 0.5%. These 7 deaths were only seen in the I.S.S.~15 group (50 patients) with 14% mortality. Conclusions: The goals of this Registry are to estabJish the epidemiology of our injured pediatric population, to review patient care, to deveJop prevention programs and to compare results with other centers so that potential deficieneies can be corrected.• Key words: Pediatric Trauma -Registry -Epidemiology Resume Objectifs: Developper le premier registre des traumatismes pediatriques espagnol pour appreeier Jes differents aspects des traumatismes dans notre population pediatrique. Methodes:Eur

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Buttock necrosis is a rare presentation of severe pelvic ischaemia. It has been reported following open abdominal aortic repair and after internal iliac embolisation prior to endovascular treatment of aortic aneurysm. The internal iliac arteries are the major blood supply to the pelvis and buttocks. Collateral connections between the rectal and gluteal branches of the internal iliac artery and the deep femoral artery are well recognised. Iatrogenic interruption of this collateral circulation following rectal surgery resulting in limb ischaemia has been described. We present an exceptional case of buttock necrosis following infrainguinal bypass in a patient with bilateral internal iliac and left external iliac artery occlusions. The case is the first such reported to our knowledge. Mycotic aneurysms of the extracranial carotid arteries (MCAs) are extremely rare. They usually appear as an enlarging pulsatile neck mass with no specific signs and symptoms, and they can lead to severe morbidity and mortality if left untreated. We report a case of a saccular thrombosed MCA in a 68-year-old man, presented as a non-pulsatile enlarging mass. The patient did not have any clinical signs of infection, and he was treated with resection of the MCA and synthetic patch reconstruction of the carotid bifurcation. Postoperative microbial cultures revealed Streptococcus parasanguinis. We review and discuss the literature regarding the clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment options of MCAs. We describe the presentation and management of a case of rectus sheath haematoma secondary to spontaneous rupture of a deep circumflex iliac artery aneurysm. This was successfully treated with coil embolization. Such a case has never, to our knowledge, previously been reported. We present an interesting case of a patient who underwent initial open repair of a descending thoracic aortic aneurysm in 1996, who subsequently had a pseudo-aneurysm that arose from his prosthetic graft, which was repaired with open surgery in 1998. He then developed a second pseudo-aneurysm with an aortobronchial fistula. This was successfully treated with an endovascular stent graft in 1999. The patient has survived 10 years after this procedure.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a growing treatment modality for various diseases, most notably cancer. It has several advantages compared to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, but a good dosimetry is very important for an efficient treatment. One of the key parameters in PDT dosimetry is oxygen availability in tissue, which can be measured making use of spectroscopic techniques. For this purpose, a broadband source is needed to illuminate the volume of interest at all wavelengths necessary for the spectroscopic information. In an implantable system under development, this broadband source is being implemented as a microfabricated lamp. In this paper we report on the characterisation of a tungsten microheater as the incandescent filament, showing that this type of element can be brought to emit significant radiation in the wavelength range of interest.