An elective combined caesarean section and small bowel GIST resection during the third trimester of pregnancy: Report of a case.

INTRODUCTION: Gastro-Intestinal Stromal Tumours (GISTs) are rare with an estimated incidence of only 11-15 per million. In pregnancy, GISTs are an extremely rare occurrence and are thus complex to manage from an ethical, surgical and oncological perspective. PRESENTATION OF CASE: We present the first reported case in the literature of a successful combined lower segment caesarean section (LSCS) and a tumour resection in a 31-year-old pregnant patient presenting with a small bowel GIST. DISCUSSION: We compare and contrast our case with other reported cases of GIST resection in pregnancy and discuss the challenges faced by both patients and clinicians. CONCLUSION: Our case demonstrates that a combined LSCS and GIST resection is feasible. In addition, our case highlights the importance of both the multidisciplinary setting and the consideration of patients' wishes in the successful management of this complex group of patients.

Pulmonary carcinoid and related tumours.

Since the turn of the century carcinoid tumours have fascinated clinicians and pathologists. It may be because of their unpredictable behaviour, characteristic morphology or the unusual nature of the carcinoid syndrome. Whatever the reason, in the last twenty years the topic of neuroendocrine features in a tumour has been to the fore in pathology, probably because small cell carcinoma is so sensitive to chemo- and radiotherapy. This article will review the clinical and pathological features of typical and atypical carcinoid tumours. The relative "newcomer" of large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma will also be described. No description of small cell carcinoma will be given as it is available in standard texts and recent reviews [1, 2]. A classification of the common neuroendocrine tumours is given in Tab. I.