title: Massive Retro-Pneumoperitoneum and Lower Limb Subcutaneous Emphysema After Pediatric Heart Transplantation: A Case Report.
abstract: An emphysema in a lower limb is usually a clinical sign of a severe and life-threatening infection. We report a rare case of subcutaneous emphysema of the left lower limb associated with a massive retro-pneumoperitoneum and pneumatosis intestinalis after cardiac transplantation in a 4-year-old girl. The child was nearly asymptomatic beside an abdominal distension. A benign pneumoperitoneum associated with an extensive pneumatosis intestinalis is a rare complication after organ transplantation and should be treated conservatively. The association with an emphysema in a lower limb in a child has not been previously reported to our knowledge in the literature.
authors.affiliation: Clinic of General Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital "Regina Margher ita," "Città della Salute e della Scienza," Turin, Italy. Electronic address: drsalvatoregarofalo@yahoo.it.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Garofalo
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, Children's Hospital "Regina Margherita," "Città della Salute e della Scienza," Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aidala
authors.affiliation: Clinic of General Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital "Regina Margher ita," "Città della Salute e della Scienza," Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Teruzzi
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, Children's Hospital "Regina Margherita," "Città della Salute e della Scienza," Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pace Napoleone
authors.affiliation: Clinic of General Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital "Regina Margher ita," "Città della Salute e della Scienza," Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Carbonaro
authors.affiliation: Clinic of General Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital "Regina Margher ita," "Città della Salute e della Scienza," Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cerrina
authors.affiliation: Imaging and Diagnostics, Children's Hospital "Meyer," Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Filippi
authors.affiliation: Clinic of General Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital "Regina Margher ita," "Città della Salute e della Scienza," Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schleef
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D035002:Lower Extremity; D011006:Pneumatosis Cystoides Intestinalis / Q000209:etiology*; D011027:Pneumoperitoneum / Q000209:etiology*; D013352:Subcutaneous Emphysema / Q000209:etiology*