Marla Sacks

State University of New York Downstate Medical Center | SUNY · Division of General Surgery

Introduction Among premature infants, the incidence of inguinal hernias is reported to be as high as 30%. Despite being one of the most commonly performed procedures, the optimal setting of inguinal hernia repair (IHR) that is inpatient versus outpatient remains debatable. We sought to compare the 30-day outcomes of each approach by querying the Na...

Purpose With the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person fellowship interviews were curtailed, leading candidates to seek information from other resources. Our main purposes were (1) to determine what information recent participants in the match needed to evaluate programs and (2) to assess which of these were available online. Methods A focus group of ten r...

Introduction Both Trisomy 18 (T18) and Necrotizing enterocolitis totalis (NEC-T) are major causes of morbidity and mortality in neonates. However, to our knowledge there has never been a case of a full-term infant born with both T18 and NEC-T published in the literature. Case report We present a case of NEC totalis in male neonate born at 39 weeks...

BACKGROUND Intussusception, which is the prolapse of one section of intestine into another, is a common cause of small-bowel obstruction in pediatric patients. Bezoars are concretions of ingested foreign material. Trichobezoars, which are bezoars made of hair, occur in the context of trichotillomania, the compulsive pulling of hair, and trichophagi...

Background Selection of pediatric surgical trainees is a multifaceted process heavily influenced by in-person interviews to determine personality makeup and institutional compatibility. We present our experience in utilizing a validated personality inventory in the selection of our candidates. Methods All applicants selected for an in-person inter...

Background Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is the leading gastrointestinal cause of death in premature infants and causes long-term disabilities. Previously, enteral heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (HB-EGF) administered after birth demonstrated decreased incidence and severity of NEC in a neonatal animal model of NEC. We...

Introduction and importance Pediatric mesenteric cysts, rare and usually benign intra-abdominal tumors, are a difficult preoperative diagnosis due to ambiguous clinical characteristics. The final diagnosis is typically established only during surgery or histological analysis. Case presentation An 8-year-old female presented with five days of worse...

Background The indications for single-incision thoracoscopic surgery in children are expanding. We present outcome comparisons in single versus multi-port surgical technique for management of Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax (PSP) in seven children. Methods This retrospective chart review of the outcomes from a single-surgeon's experience in thora...

Esophageal atresia with tracheoesophageal fistula (EA/TEF) and annular pancreas are both rare congenital anomalies, with very few reports of neonates presenting with both. More specifically, there are no reported cases of neonates with both annular pancreas and the rarest form of TEF, the H-type fistula. Here, we present the case of a neonate with...

Introduction: Incidentally found congenital pulmonary airway malformations (CPAM) in older children are extremely rare and have traditionally been managed with minimally invasive versus open lobectomy of the affected lobe. Presentation of case: In this report, we present a 11-year-old male who presented with a recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax...

Introduction: The optimal laparoscopic appendectomy approach is not clear, comparing single site laparoscopic appendectomy (SILA) to conventional 3-port appendectomy (CLA). We investigated outcomes in pediatric patients comparing SILA to CLA: length of operation, length of stay, time to resumption of regular diet, follow up, rehospitalization, and...

Background: Biliary Atresia (BA) is congenital condition, where infant intra- and extrahepatic bile ducts become obliterated, leading to cholestasis and cirrhosis if untreated. This study aims to assess the predictive measure of absent gallbladder on ultrasound (US) performed in infants with cholestasis for diagnosing BA. Method: After Institutiona...

Appendicitis is one of the most common childhood diseases requiring surgery and the appendectomy is the most common surgical procedure performed in children. Typical findings on physical exam and imaging points the child toward a surgical consult and, ultimately, removal of the inflamed appendix. Our aim is to present an interesting case and, to ou...

Introduction Intestinal malformations, such as intestinal atresia, malrotation, and anorectal malformation, are rare events, but concurrent intestinal atresia and anorectal malformation are rare in combination. These anomalies have similar in utero and perinatal symptoms, which can make the diagnosis of both defects prenatally challenging. Present...

Purpose: Surgical treatment for pediatric spontaneous pneumothorax has evolved from open thoracotomy to multiport Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS). A 16 year-old male with a one-week history of right upper back pain who was found to have a large right-sided spontaneous pneumothorax. Conservative management was attempted, but failed, and...

Introduction and importance Schwannomas are benign, slow-growing nerve sheath tumors of neoplastic Schwann cells. They are the most common peripheral nerve tumors in adults and are typically discovered incidentally due to their asymptomatic presentation. Despite the fact that most schwannomas are unassociated with a syndrome, their etiology is thou...

Introduction: Tubo-ovarian abscesses are rarely seen in non-sexually active patients, particularly because they lack the greatest risk factor: multiple sexual partners, avoiding genital tract infections, and subsequent tubo-ovarian abscesses.

Tolosa-Hunt Syndrome is a rare disease with an incidence rate of about one in one million per year worldwide. It is caused by granulomatous, nonspecific inflammation of the cavernous sinus, which results in severe headaches, eye pain, and ophthalmoplegia. This is the case of a previously healthy 10-year-old male with a family history significant fo...

Surgical treatment for pediatric spontaneous pneumothorax has evolved over time from open thoracotomy to multiport Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS) and perhaps now towards single site VATS. This is a case of a 16—year-old male with one-week history of right upper back pain who was found to have a large right-sided spontaneous pneumothora...

BACKGROUND Teratoma, a tumor containing a variety of tissues, is a broad diagnosis containing mature teratoma, immature teratoma, and teratomas with malignant transformation. The tumor forms during embryological development secondary to unsuccessful migration of primordial germ cells. A specific type of mature teratoma, containing human-like featur...

The behaviour of an electric field induced pattern forming instability, the electroconvection in a nematic liquid crystal, was studied under the influence of superposed dc and ac electric voltages. The onset parameters (threshold voltages and critical wave numbers) were determined. It was found that the superposition of voltages inhibits the patter...