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Due to the great advancements in fetal ultrasonography, the number of prenatal diagnoses are increasing, greatly contributing to improved neonatal surgery. It is now relatively easy to detect huge fetal cystic masses, and we have experienced three cases with a huge neck tumor detected in utero, one case with teratoma and two cases with cystic hygroma. Each case was complicated by neonatal asphyxia, and the neonate needed resuscitation by means of endotracheal intubation. The infant with teratoma unfortunately died of respiratory distress due to compression of the trachea before a perinatal team could be organized. Although the remaining cases with cystic hygroma were treated by a perinatal team, one died 19 hours after birth and the other has survived with the aid of endotracheal intubation in the hospital for three years. In addition, all four cases of cystic hygroma detected antenatally in our institute, which were not delivered, also had fetal hydrops which suggested a general lymphatic derangement. Cystic hygroma detected in utero is considered to be different from that detected after birth, since the former is associated with genetic lymphatic derangement. Prenatal diagnosis enables such patients to survive the perinatal period, but may not improve the prognosis of fetal cystic hygroma so much.

We report herein the rare case of a 15-year-old girl with chronic appendicitis in whom the appendix was clearly depicted by a barium enema (BE) examination. The patient presented with a 4-month history of diffuse abdominal pain and tenderness in the lower abdomen. Neither computed tomography nor ultrasonography showed any abnormal findings in the lower abdomen or pelvic cavity. Furthermore, BE examination depicted an appendix filled with the contrast medium. However, at elective surgery, she was found to have chronic appendicitis which was later confirmed histologically. Following this case report, a discussion on the value and limitations of BE examination for the diagnosis of acute and chronic appendicitis is presented.