1Department of Surgery, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
2Department of Pathology, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Correspondence: Kum-ja Choi, M.D., Department of Surgery, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, 911-1 Mok-dong, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul 158-710, Korea. Tel: 02)2650-5554, Fax: 02)2644-7984, kumchoi@ewha.ac.kr
• Received: September 26, 2012 • Accepted: November 15, 2012
Acute appendicitis is very rare in premature neonates. Preoperative diagnosis of this condition is difficult, and then it leads to high morbidity and mortality. We report 9-day-old premature male with ruptured acute appendicitis presented with pneumoperitoneum on plain films of the abdomen. Awareness of this rare condition and possible differential diagnosis in this age group is also discussed.
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Fig. 1
Preoperative supine(a) and cross-table lateral(b) abdominal X-ray show distension of bowel loops and free air in the peritoneum.
Fig. 2
Abdominal exploration shows the appendix completely transected (arrow).
Fig. 3
Masson's trichrome stain. Histopathologic examination of appendix shows a necrotic tissue and acute inflammatory cell in perforation site.