- Rapunzel syndrome
Rapunzel Syndrome (also known as Trichobezoar) is an extremely rare intestinal condition in humans resulting from the consumption of hair. It is named after the long-haired character
Rapunzel in the fairy tale by theBrothers Grimm . Rapunzel syndrome is also known as trichophagia. Trichophagia is sometimes triggered by the hair pulling disorder, known asTrichotillomania .Its characteristics include:
* The body of a
trichobezoar (hairball) located in thestomach , and its tail in the smallbowel and/or in the right colon
* Small or large bowel obstruction
* Occurring in psychiatric patients
*Trichotillomania At least fourteen cases have been reported in the pediatric age group.
Treatment
As the human
gastrointestinal tract is unable to digest human hairs, the trichobezoar usually has to be treated surgically.External links
* [http://www.medscimonit.com/medscimonit/modules.php?name=Current_Issue&d_op=summary&id=3623 Sattar Memon, Parkash Mandhan, Javed Qureshi, Asif Shairani: "Recurrent Rapunzel syndrome – a case report"]
* [http://www.ijppediatricsindia.org/article.asp?issn=0019-5456;year=2001;volume=68;issue=9;spage=895;epage=6;aulast=Hirugade;type=0 S. T. Hirugade, M. C. Talpallikar, A. V. Deshpande, J. S. Gavali, S. S. Borwankar: "Rapunzel syndrome with a long tail"]
* [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7941500&dopt=Abstract N. D. Duncan, R. Aitken, S. Venugopal, W. West, R. Carpenter: "The Rapunzel syndrome. Report of a case and review of the literature"]
* [http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/11/21/hairball.case/index.html CNN.com Nov. 21, 2007: "Article about an 18 year old girl who had a 10 pound Trichobezoar removed surgically"]
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