Management of Menstrual and Gynecologic Concerns in Girls with Special Needs

For girls with physical and developmental disabilities and their families/caregivers, puberty and menstruation can present significant problems such as vulnerability, abuse risk, unintended pregnancies, difficulties with managing menstrual hygiene, abnormal uterine bleeding, dysmenorrhea, behavioral difficulties/mood concerns or changes in seizure pattern. Healthcare providers may have an important and positive impact for both the adolescents and their families/caregivers during this stage of life. Whether menstrual manipulation is indicated should be decided after a detailed history is taken from both the patient and the caregivers to determine the impact of current problems on quality of life. It should be explained that complete amenorrhea is difficult to achieve and realistic expectations should be addressed. The goals for the management of menstrual concerns should be a reduction in the amount and total days of menstrual flow, reduction of menstrual pain and suppression of ovulatory or cyclic symptoms, depending on each individual patient’s needs. Advantages and disadvantages of available treatment methods should also be discussed.

Hormone Replacement Therapy in a Patient with Hypogonadism and Coexisting Medical Conditions

In adolescents and young women, there is limited data on the type of replacement, route of administration, and ideal doses to be used in systemic hormone therapy administered for the treatment of hypogonadism. In particular, management of patients with complicated systemic diseases or at risk of thrombophilia may present significant challenges. We present a case of a 15-year-old adolescent girl with hypogonadism and coexisting medical conditions, who was evaluated for systemic hormone therapy.

Conservative Management of Vaginal Hypoplasia

In patients with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome and complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS), management of vaginal hypoplasia includes non-surgical or surgical vaginal elongation techniques. For these patients, primary vaginal dilation is considered a first-line option to avoid the risks of having surgery and complications that may occur due to these procedures. Non-surgical dilation is a highly successful treatment if treatment is initiated when the patient is emotionally mature and ready. Here, we present a case of CAIS with vaginal hypoplasia managed successfully with non-surgical dilation therapy.

Metastatic gastric signet-ring cell carcinoma: A rare cause of acute appendicitis

We report a 32-year-old patient who underwent laparoscopy with classical symptoms and signs of acute appendicitis. An inflamed, edematous and non-perforated appendix, also a large amount gelatinous ascites, omental and peritoneal implants were seen. Appendectomy was performed and multiple biopsies were taken from omentum and peritoneum for definitive diagnosis. Histopathologic diagnosis was a metastatic gastric signet-ring cell carcinoma (GSRCC) involving appendix and other specimens. A flat lesion involving corpus to antrum was diagnosed by gastroscopy and GSRCC was verified histopathologically in a tertiary centre and the case evaluated as stage IV gastric carcinoma. This case with no sign of gastric cancer was presented as an acute appendicitis. Metastatic carcinoma to the appendix, causing acute appendicitis is extremely rare in clinical practice and usually associated with high morbidity and mortality.