Mucinous adenocarcinoma of a tailgut cyst.

A tailgut cyst is a rare congenital lesion that develops from a residual posterior remnant of the intestine and presents as a mass in the presacral space. They are generally asymptomatic or have atypical symptoms, are usually benign but may rarely become malignant. We report a case of a 37-year-old female who initially presented to the Surgical Department of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana with a malignant tailgut cyst after having repeated surgical procedures for recurrent perianal infective pathologies but still had persistence of symptoms. The lesion was initially excised and found to be a dermoid cyst histologically. The mass recurred after a year and had a re-excision; the lesion was diagnosed histologically as mucinous adenocarcinoma. This report emphasizes the different forms of presentation of a patient with a tailgut cyst and the possibility of malignant transformation, as well as the presentation of this tailgut cyst which can be diagnosed using radiological investigations and histological findings. Funding: None.

Warfarin-induced skin necrosis: a rare condition.

Warfarin induced skin necrosis is a rare debilitating and, in some cases, life-threatening complication. A 47-year-old male on life-long anticoagulation omits his medication and develops extensive skin necrosis of the left leg complicated by acute renal failure three days after restarting warfarin. Investigations reveal possible Protein S deficiency which is known to be a predisposing condition. Various mechanisms have been proposed as the underlying cause. He was managed on heparin, wound debridement and skin grafting. Warfarin was restarted concurrently with heparin. Knowledge of this complication will enable timely diagnosis and treatment. FUNDING: None declared.