unusual presentation of colonic duplication

Gastrointestinal duplication is an uncommon congenital abnormality, usually diagnosed early in life; a minority may remain unsuspected until adulthood. Ileal duplications are the most common while colonic duplications are rare and remain asymptomatic and undiagnosed in most cases. The main symptoms include pain and/or abdominal distension. Rarely, duplications present with signs of acute abdomen or acute bleeding. We report about a case of a colonic cystic duplication in an adult revealed by rectal bleeding. This report illustrates the difficulties that can be encountered when establishing this rare diagnosis and emphasis that colonic duplication should be looked for in search for an aetiology of obscure colonic bleeding

[Lethal osteochondrodysplasia: foetopathological study of 32 cases]

The lethal osteochondrodysplasias are rare, their prevalence is estimated at 1 per 10 000 births. Mostly have genetic determinism. To describe the malformations and dysmorphic features in lethal osteochondrodysplasias.Our study involved 32 cases of lethal fetal Osteochondrodysplasias, collected over a period of 14 years in the pathological department of Sousse.Our series consisted of 23 foetuses from a medical termination of pregnancy, 6 newborns and 3 stillbirths. The mean age of mothers was 28 years old, consanguinity was observed in 61%. 3 cases of recurrence of the disease in three families were noted. The bone abnormalities were detected in antenatal ultrasonography in 25 cases [87%] and at birth in 7 cases. Ultrasound showed micromelia in all cases, a narrow chest in 5 cases and spina bifida in 3 cases. The foetopathological exam, including a macroscopic examination, radiological and histological samples of bone, has allowed us, based on the International Classification of 2001 to classify the 32 cases of Osteochondrodysplasias in: 8cases of Achondrogenesis type I [type Parenti-Fraccaro], 3 cases of Achondrogenesis type II [Langer Saldino], 9 cases of lethal osteogenesis imperfecta, 8 cases of thanatophoric dysplasia, 4 cases of Schneckenbecken dysplasia, 2 cases of Short rib polydactyly syndrome, Majewski type and 1 case of asphyxiating thoracic dysplasia