Carcinoid tumors of the appendix in children younger than 16 years. A retrospective clinical and pathologic study.

Eighteen cases of appendiceal carcinoid in children aged 4 to 15 years, 14 of them girls, are reviewed. Most (73%) of the tumors were located in the distal third of the appendix. Tumor size, measured in histologic sections, ranged from 0.1 to 1.2 cm. In three cases the tumor had invaded the mesoappendix. No metastases were found. Standard appendectomy was performed in all cases as the only surgical procedure. The preoperative clinical diagnosis in 15 cases was acute appendicitis, which was histologically confirmed in 53%. At follow-up 2.2 to 29.3 years postoperatively (mean 16.4 years), all the patients were alive and without suspected or verified recurrence of carcinoid.