Gastric trichobezoar and Rapunzel syndrome: case report of a very rare condition.

Background: Rapunzel syndrome is a rare trichobezoar variant extending from the gastric cavity into the small bowel.

Case Description: We report the case of a 22-year-old woman who presented with epigastric pain, nausea, and loss of appetite within the preceding five weeks. She had a palpable mass in the epigastric area with mild localized tenderness.

Dealing with Pheochromocytoma during the First Trimester of Pregnancy.

Purpose. Pheochromocytoma in association with pregnancy is a very rare, without specific symptoms, life-threatening condition, increasing both maternal and fetal mortality up to 50%. The present paper illustrates the case of a pregnant woman, diagnosed with pheochromocytoma, aiming to demonstrate and discuss the difficulties that arouse during the diagnosis and the problems concerning the treatment.

A clinical comparison of sonographic hydrotubation and hysterosalpingography.

Objective: To assess the value of vaginal sonographic hydrotubation as a preliminary test of uterine configuration and tubal patency in infertility investigation, and to compare this new test with hysterosalpingography.

Design: A prospective blind comparison of the two tests in an unselected group of infertile women.

Setting: Hillbrow Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Low survival of South African urban black women with cervical cancer.

In Soweto, Johannesburg, the incidence of cervical cancer, the most common cancer in black women, is higher than in most white populations but lower than in many other populations. In a series of 210 patients who were diagnosed in 1981 and 1982, 50% had died within 1.6 years of diagnosis, a third of the reported survival time in white patients.

Advanced extra-uterine pregnancy.

Forty-three cases of advanced extra-uterine pregnancy of more than 34 weeks' gestation, seen and treated at Baragwanath Hospital between 1966 and 1978, are reviewed. The incidence in our unit was 1 per 6 389 deliveries. Abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding were the most common complaints.