Introduction Pediatric patients with acute life‐threatening consequences of interstitial and diffuse lung disease are often treated with empiric systemic corticosteroids, immune modulators, and/or broad antibiotic therapy. Histological evaluation of lung tissue represents the final necessary step in diagnosis—however, a definitive diagnosis may still remain elusive and medical therapies may not be changed following biopsy. We hypothesized that lung biopsy from pediatric patients with children's interstitial and diffuse lung disease (chILD) without a defined lesion on computed tomography (CT) imaging would guide diagnosis, but not substantially alter clinical management. Methods After IRB approval, patients who underwent a lung biopsy at a single large children's hospital between 2013 and 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients without a defined lesion were included. Demographics, length of stay, oxygen‐requirements, steroid, unique number of immune modulators, and antibiotics prebiopsy and postbiopsy were reviewed. Nonparametric data were compared by the Mann Whitney U and Kruskal Wallace tests and expressed as median with interquartile range. Decision tree alterations were analyzed by t test. P < .05 was significant. Results Sixty‐four patients underwent lung biopsy during the period. Nineteen (30%) did not have a defined lesion on CT scan, and were included. A significant difference was seen between prebiopsy, 2 weeks, and 2 months postbiopsy prednisone dosing (P = .03), while the number of unique immune modulators, antibiotics, type of oxygen support and FiO2 were not significantly different before or after obtaining biopsy results. Pathology results provided additional information in 12 of 19 (63%) patients which resulted in management changes. Conclusions Lung biopsy in chILD may guide clinical management, especially influencing the management of steroid dosing. Although on aggregate the number of antibiotics, immune modulators, mode of oxygen support and FiO2 did not differ significantly before and after biopsy, the pathologic evaluation provided diagnostic information that led to a variety of changes in therapeutic management in greater than half of the population.

BackgroundPrimary malignant tracheal tumors are rare, accounting for approximately 0.2 % of respiratory tract tumors yearly, with squamous cell carcinomas and adenoid cystic carcinomas accounting for two-thirds of these cases. Sarcomatoid carcinomas are a group of poorly differentiated non-small cell lung carcinomas containing a component of sarcoma or sarcoma-like (spindle and/or giant cell) differentiation, categorized into five morphologic subgroups. Spindle cell sarcomatoid carcinoma is a rare variant of sarcomatoid carcinomas, consisting of only spindle-shaped tumor cells. Only one other case has been reported as a primary tracheal tumor.Case presentationWe present a 75-year-old male, having progressive dyspnea and cough, with a spindle cell sarcomatoid carcinoma tumor visualized on chest computed tomography scan and confirmed with biopsy.ConclusionsDue to its low incidence, knowledge of treatment methods, prognostic factors, and etiology is limited thus approaches to eradication have widely varied. We are reporting the second published case of spindle cell sarcomatoid carcinoma of the trachea and the first reported successful outcome of definitive treatment with tracheal resection.

Purpose: Traumatic abdominal wall hernia (TAWH) is a rare consequence of blunt abdominal trauma (BAT). We examined a series of patients suffering TAWH to evaluate its frequency, rate of associated concurrent intrabdominal injuries (CAI) and correlation with CT, management and outcomes. Methods: A Level 1 pediatric trauma center trauma registry was queried for children under 18 suffering TAWH from BAT between 2009-2019. Results: 9370 patients were admitted after BAT. TAWH was observed in 11 children, at incidence 0.1%. Eight children (73%) were male, at mean age 10 years, and mean ISS of 16. Six cases (55%) were due to MVC, three (27%) impaled by a handlebar or pole, and two (18%) dragged under large machinery. Seven (64%) had a CAI requiring operative or interventional management. Patients with CAI were similar to those without other injury, with 20% and 50% CT scan sensitivity and specificity for detection of associated injury, respectively. Five patients had immediate hernia repair with laparotomy for repair of intrabdominal injury, three had delayed repair, two have asymptomatic unrepaired TAWH, and one resolved spontaneously. Conclusions: Children with TAWH have high rates of CAI requiring operative repair. CT scans have low sensitivity and specificity for detecting associated injuries. A high suspicion of injury and low threshold for exploration must be maintained in TAWH cases.

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