Gastroschisis and biliary atresia in a neonate: uncommon presentation or common precipitant

Acute acalculous cholecystitis in an infant after gastroschisis closure

Gastroschisis is a common type of congenital anterior abdominal wall defect with intraabdominal organs exposed outside the abdominal cavity. With modern neonatology and surgical practices, the overall prognosis for infants with gastroschisis is excellent. However, a subset of infants with gastroschisis will develop complications, requiring repeat surgical interventions. We present a case of a female infant with complicated gastroschisis who developed acute perforated acalculous cholecystitis, which was accurately diagnosed with abdominal ultrasound and successfully treated with medical management and a percutaneous cholecystostomy tube.

Outcome of management of gastroschisis: comparison of improvised surgical silo and extended right hemicolectomy

Background

Gastroschisis is onea of the major abdominal wall defects encountered commonly in pediatric surgery. Whereas complete reduction and abdominal closure is achieved easily sometimes, a daunting situation arises when the eviscerated bowel loops and other viscera cannot be returned immediately into the abdominal cavity. This situation is a major contributor to the outcome of the treatment of gastroschisis in our region. In our efforts to improve our outcome, we have adopted the technique of extended right hemicolectomy for cases where complete reduction and primary abdominal wall closure is otherwise not possible. This study compared the management outcome of gastroschisis using our improvised silo, and performing an extended right hemicolectomy.

Results

Thirty-nine cases were analyzed. Simple closure could not be achieved in 28 cases. In the absence of standard silos, improvised ones were constructed from the amniotic membrane (3 cases), urine bag (4 cases), and latex gloves (9 cases) giving a total of 16 cases managed with silos. Extended right hemicolectomy was performed in 12 cases.

Conclusions

Given the peculiarities of circumstances in our region regarding human and material resources in the care of gastroschisis patients, an extended right hemicolectomy, to make it possible to close the abdomen primarily in gastroschisis is a more viable option than the use of improvised silo.

Trial registration

This trial was approved by the Ethical Committee of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. Reference Number: UPTH/ADM/90/S.II/VOL XI/835. Registered 3 May 2013.

Direct hyperbilirubinemia in newborns with gastroschisis

BACKGROUND

Patients with gastroschisis and prolonged total (or partial) parenteral nutrition (PN) commonly develop direct hyperbilirubinemia (DH).

OBJECTIVE

To quantify the prevalence and severity of DH in newborns with gastroschisis and characterize the diagnostic work-up for DH in this patient population.

DESIGN/METHODS

Retrospective chart review of patients born with gastroschisis between 2005 and 2015 for the first 6 months of life.

RESULTS

29 patients were identified with gastroschisis. Mean gestational age and birthweight were 36.4 (± 1.8) weeks and 2.5 (± 0.6) kg. 41% were treated with primary reduction versus staged closure. Peak total and direct bilirubin (DB) levels were 10.17 ± 6.21 mg/dL and 5.58 ± 3.94 mg/dL, respectively. 23 patients (79.3%) were diagnosed with DH and 78.2% underwent additional work-up for hyperbilirubinemia consisting of imaging and laboratory studies, none of which revealed a cause for DH other than the presumed PN-associated cholestasis. In all patients, DB began to decline within 1-10 days of initiation of enteral feeds.

CONCLUSION(S)

DH is common in patients with gastroschisis and is unlikely to be associated with pathology aside from PN. Additional work-up may lead to unnecessary resource utilization.

LEVELS OF EVIDENCE

Case series with no comparison group, Level IV.

A case of choledocholithiasis and intestinal malrotation in an adolescent with repaired gastroschisis

Most infants with repaired gastroschisis develop normally and remain in good health. About 10% of patients with gastroschisis have other malformations. We report a case of choledocholithiasis and intestinal malrotation in an adolescent with repaired gastroschisis. A 17-year-old girl presented with fever, jaundice, and abdominal pain. She had undergone an operation to repair gastroschisis at birth. Physical examination revealed icteric sclera, a tight abdominal wall, and a longitudinal surgical scar at the midline. An abdominal computed tomography scan revealed a round calcifying lesion near the pancreas and a midline-positioned liver and gallbladder. Absence of the retroperitoneal duodenum and the anterior and left-sided position of the superior mesenteric vein compared with the superior mesenteric artery were observed. Results of abarium examination revealed intestinal malrotation. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography revealed diffuse dilatation of the biliary trees and a malpositioned gallbladder. A single stone was removed by using a basket. The clinical symptoms improved after the patient underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.

Gastroschisis: an update

Gastroschisis (GS) continues to increase in frequency, with several studies now reported an incidence of between 4 and 5 per 10,000 live births. The main risk factor would seem to be young maternal age, and it is in this group that the greatest increase has occurred. Whilst various geographical regions confer a higher risk, the impact of several other putative risk factors, including smoking and illicit drug use, may be less important than when first identified in early epidemiological studies. Over 90% of cases of GS will now be diagnosed on antenatal ultrasound, but its value in determining the need for early delivery remains unclear. There would appear no clear evidence for either routine early delivery or elective caesarean section for infants with antenatally diagnosed GS. Delivery at a centre with paediatric surgical facilities reduces the risk of subsequent morbidity and should represent the standard of care. The relative roles of primary closure, staged closure and ward reduction, with or without general anaesthesia, appear less clear with considerable variation between centres in both the use of these techniques and subsequent surgical outcomes. Survival rates continue to improve, with rates well in excess of 90% now routine. The limited long-term developmental data available would suggest that normal or near-normal outcomes may be expected although there remains a need for further studies.

Development of gastroschisis: review of hypotheses, a novel hypothesis, and implications for research

Gastroschisis, a ventral body wall defect, is a continuing challenge and concern to researchers, clinicians, and epidemiologists seeking to identify its cause(s) and pathogenesis. Concern has been renewed in recent years because, unlike most other birth defects, rates of gastroschisis are reportedly increasing in many developed and developing countries. No tenable explanation or specific causes have been identified for this trend. Rates of gastroschisis are particularly high among pregnancies of very young women. Such an intriguing association, not observed to this degree with other birth defects, may afford clues to the defect's cause. Understanding the causes of gastroschisis may provide insight to the defect's origin. In pursuing such causal studies, it would be helpful to understand the embryogenesis of gastroschisis. To date, four main embryologic hypotheses have been proposed: (1) Failure of mesoderm to form in the body wall; (2) Rupture of the amnion around the umbilical ring with subsequent herniation of bowel; (3) Abnormal involution of the right umbilical vein leading to weakening of the body wall and gut herniation; and (4) Disruption of the right vitelline (yolk sac) artery with subsequent body wall damage and gut herniation. Although based on embryological phenomena, these hypotheses do not provide an adequate explanation for how gastroschisis would occur. Therefore, we propose an alternative hypothesis, based on well described embryonic events. Specifically, we propose that abnormal folding of the body wall results in a ventral body wall defect through which the gut herniates, leading to the clinical presentation of gastroschisis. This hypothesis potentially explains the origin of gastroschisis as well as that of other developmental defects of the ventral wall.