TITLE:
Appendicular Neuroendocrine Tumors in Children
AUTHORS:
Parkash Mandhan, Falah Ali Hasan Ismail, Mansour J. Ali, Madiha Emran Soofi
KEYWORDS:
Children, Appendicitis, Carcinoid Tumor, Neuroendocrine Tumor, Appendix
JOURNAL NAME:
Surgical Science,
Vol.5 No.6,
June
20,
2014
ABSTRACT: Appendicular
Neuroendocrine Tumors (ANETs) in pediatric age group are infrequent. Though
children may present like symptoms of acute appendicitis, these tumors are
incidentally picked up during routine histological examination of resected
appendix. We report our experience with ANETs in children from a tertiary care
hospital in Arabian Peninsula. During 6-year period, there were 700
appendectomies performed in children (≤14 years) and we collected only 3 cases
of ANETs diagnosed from histological examination of resected appendix.
Appendectomy alone has been sufficient in all cases and they are disease free
at follow-up till 3 years after surgery. We have reviewed the clinical
presentation, diagnosis and management of these cases. With no typical clinical
picture, ANET is usually an incidental finding hence we propose that the review
of the histology of resected appendix is mandatory to identify the prevalence
of ANETs in pediatric population. For most patients, appendectomy is the
appropriate treatment and the outcome is excellent after appendectomy.