Rectus abdominis muscle endometriosis

Endometriosis is characterized by an abnormal existence of functional endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity, typically occuring within the pelvis of women in reproductive age. We report two cases with endometriosis of the abdominal wall; the first one in the rectus abdominis muscle and the second one in the surgical scar of previous caesarean incision along with the rectus abdominis muscle. Pre-operative evaluation included magnetic resonance imaging. The masses were dissected free from the surrounding tissue and excised with clear margins. Diagnosis of the excised lesions were verified by histopathology

Atypical tuberculosis of the spine

Spinal tuberculosis characteristically involves the paradiscal area of vertebral bodies with a narrowing of the disc space. In this study, we reported four atypical forms of Pott's disease, including one hundred and eighty-four patients treated between 1985 and 1998. Two cases presented with noncontiguous multilevel involvement, where one case had transverse process involvement alone and the other had involvement of the neural arch. Atypical tuberculosis of the spine was found in 2.1% of the patients.

The fetal stomach circumference/abdominal circumference ratio: a possible parameter in assessing fetal stomach size

Nonvisualized, dilated or even a small fetal stomach can be associated with a variety of anomalies and poor fetal outcome. Therefore, we attempted to evaluate the stomach circumference (SC)/abdominal circumference (AC) ratio to assess normal limits of fetal stomach size. A total of 363 fetuses ranging from 15 to 39 weeks' gestation were prospectively evaluated with ultrasonography. The SC was measured from a plane that is perpendicular to the fetal longitudinal axis at the level where the largest axial circumference of the stomach was obtained using a digitizer. The AC was also measured at the same section and the ratio was calculated by dividing the SC by the AC and multiplying by 100. The SC increased linearly from 15 to 24 weeks and showed fluctuations in size thereafter to 39 weeks. A strong correlation was noted between gestational age and both SC (r: 0.842, P 0.05). Although the fetal stomach is a dynamically changing organ, the SC/AC ratio can be considered as a potentially useful parameter in assessing fetal stomach size.