Characteristics of fetuses evaluated due to suspected anencephaly: a population-based cohort study in southern Brazil.

Context And Objective: Anencephaly is considered to be the most common type of neural tube defect. Our aim was to assess the clinical and gestational features of a cohort of fetuses with suspected anencephaly.

Design And Setting: Population-based retrospective cohort study in a referral hospital in southern Brazil.

Endoscopic treatment of bezoars. A critical review of the literature and presentation of two cases.

The authors report two cases of bezoars. The first was a large gastric bezoar in a patient who had undergone Billroth II gastroresection 40 years earlier. The second was a bezoar located in the distal part of the sigmoid colon accompanied by acute diverticular disease.

[Simple and infected pancreatic pseudocysts. Methods of ultrasonography-guided percutaneous needle aspiration: results].

Background: Personal experience in the treatment of seven pancreatic pseudocysts (four infected and one causing a high intestinal occlusion due to compression on the duodenum) is reported.

Methods: In these emergency situations, which are very risky with the traditional surgical treatments, the percutaneous needle-aspiration with needle of Ciba 22 gauge allowed to overcome the critical phase.

Results: In none of the cysts there was a Wirsung's obstruction preventing the defluxion towards the papilla, that's why ductal effraction, being the origin of the pseudocyst, healed spontaneously even if it required many needle-aspiration treatments.

[Gastric polypoid angioma: a rare cause of bleeding in the elderly. Report of a case and review of the literature].

In 10,700 upper gastrointestinal endoscopies performed between 1990 and 1995; one case of gastric haemangioma was observed. The rarity of this tumour, which represents 0.05% of all the digestive neoplasms is underlined and its features and clinical history are reported.

[Gastric leiomyoblastoma. Its preoperative diagnosis by echo-guided needle aspiration. A report of 2 clinical cases].

The authors report two cases of gastric leiomyoblastoma, one benign and one malignant, come to clinical observation for digestive hemorrhage; in both cases a preoperating diagnosis of benignity or malignity was made and in one case even of histotype, thanks to fine needle biopsy. After a short introduction regarding some historical notes, the predictive parameters of malignity, the classification of this rare myoid tumor, the authors discuss the distribution of the pathology in the population, the symptomatology, the diagnostic "iter" with particular regard to the needle biopsy, the surgical treatment, and the indispensable parameters for formulating a correct prognosis.