Trichobezoar is a rare intriguing disorder in which swallowed hairs accumulates in the stomach. Being indigestible and slippery, it could not be propulsed and becomes entrapped within the stomach. Large amounts can thus accumulate over the years forming a hair ball. Rapunzel syndrome is a variant where hair accumulation reaches the small gut and beyond in some cases. Although the syndrome has been known for many years, only 24 cases have been reported in the literature and the discovery of a new case is always surprising. In this report, we present two cases discovered within a period of three months. One of them was pregnant and had small bowel intussusception and perforation, a very rare combination. We hereby add two more cases to the literature. To our knowledge, this is the first report on two cases of Rapunzel syndrome, the diagnosis of which demands a high index of suspicion.
A marked increase in the rate of laparoscopic colectomy is seen in recent years. The minimal invasive technique seems to be increasingly used in nonteaching hospitals. Significant socioeconomic differences in access to minimal invasive techniques persist.
We present a case of spontaneous rupture of the spleen, an uncommon complication of systemic amyloidosis. Amyloid deposition leading to capsular distension and increased vascular fragility is thought to predispose the spleen to rupture spontaneously.
Traditionally 'lateral aberrant thyroid' tissue present in cervical lymph nodes in the face of a clinically normal thyroid gland is held to be a metastasis from an occult primary thyroid carcinoma. A patient in whom follicular thyroid tissue was found in a lymph node lateral to the carotid sheath in the presence of a thyroid gland which was histologically free of cancer is herewith presented.
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