Snapshot

Women's health
Volume 176 - Issue 11

No room in the womb

Authors:  Lourdes I St George and John St George

Med J Aust 2002; 176 (11): 558. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2002.tb04555.x
Published online: 3 June 2002
Download PDF (335 KB)
Share: Share on Blue Sky Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share by email

A 34-year-old woman (gravida 5, para 2) presented to the Government Hospital in Katsina, northern Nigeria, in 1973. She was in labour and had had no antenatal care. She successfully delivered a live 3.2 kg infant.

A 14 cm right adnexal pelvic mass was noted postnatally. An x-ray and hysterosalpingogram (see picture) performed four months after the birth showed the calcified remains of an extrauterine pregnancy. The woman stated that four years earlier she had missed her periods and had consulted a "bush doctor" (local herbalist) about abdominal swelling and pain. The herbs he prescribed to rub on her abdomen had eased the pain, and her periods had returned after seven months.

The mass was easily removed from the omentum at subsequent laparotomy. Histology confirmed an advanced lithokelyphopaedion (ie, calcified fetus, membranes and placenta).

Authors

  • Lourdes I St George LRCPS, FRCOG, FRACOG1
  • John St George FRCS, FRCOG, FRACOG2
  • 1. Suite4/36 Belmore Street, Burwood, NSW, Australia.

Correspondence: doubleu@bigpond.com

View this article on Wiley Online Library

More like this

Women's health Perspective 1 September 2026 Open Access

Forty Years in the Making: Reporting on the Co-Creation of a National Roadmap for Birthing on Country Services for the Best Start to Life

Res McCalman, Anneka J. Bowman, Roianne West, Kristie Watego, Jyai Allen, Claire Clack, Sue Kildea, Sue Kruske, Melanie Briggs, Cleone Wellington, Rebecca Coddington, Yu Gao, Isabella Garti, Sascha Kowalenko, Sarah Ireland, Catherine Austin, John D. Boffa, Marah Prior, Kelsie Kahl, Bettina Chaseling, Sarah Khaw, Emily Armstrong, Donna Hartz, Yvette Roe

View more