Open Access
CC BY 4.0 · European J Pediatr Surg Rep. 2020; 08(01): e1-e2
DOI: 10.1055/s-0039-3399556
Case Report
Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Image of the Month: Meconium Peritonitis with Pseudocyst—A Spot Diagnosis in Newborns

Rudolph Ascherl
1   Department of Neonatology, Universitätsklinikum Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
,
Duarte Vaz Pimentel
2   Department of Pediatric Surgery, Universitätsklinikum Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
,
Mathias Knüpfer
1   Department of Neonatology, Universitätsklinikum Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
,
Ina Sorge
3   Department of Pediatric Radiology, Universitätsklinikum Leipzig, Leipzig, Sachsen, Germany
,
Martin Lacher
2   Department of Pediatric Surgery, Universitätsklinikum Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
,
Peter Zimmermann
2   Department of Pediatric Surgery, Universitätsklinikum Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

23 September 2019

25 September 2019

Publication Date:
28 January 2020 (online)

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Abstract

We report on a male preterm newborn with a large abdominal tumor found on prenatal ultrasound 2 weeks prior to delivery at 36 + 0 weeks of gestation. A postnatal abdominal plain film showed a mass with well-defined rim calcifications (“eggshell”), suggestive of a meconium pseudocyst. On the 4th day of life, the boy underwent exploratory laparotomy with resection of the cyst and end-to-back jejunojejunostomy. The postoperative course was uneventful. A meconium pseudocyst is the correlate of a sterile peritonitis caused by antenatal bowel perforation. It is an easily recognizable spot diagnosis any pediatrician and pediatric surgeon should be aware of.