sub remove_element {

  my $elem = shift;
  my @children = @{$elem->getChildNodes()};

  if (@children == 0 ){
    print $elem->toString;
    my $parent = $elem->getParentNode();
    $parent->removeChild( $elem ); 
    return;
  }

  for my $child ( @children ){
    print $child->toString();
    remove_element( $child );
  }
}