A huge mass of hair, weighing 700 grams, was recently removed from the stomach of a 14-year-old girl, with an operation at a private hospital in Thessaloniki.

The news became known today and caused public interest as it is an extremely rare medical event.

The girl had atypical abdominal pain, and during her examination by a pediatric surgeon, the doctor became suspicious of a certain movement she made with her hair and requested an imaging test, which showed the existence of a huge mass in her stomach.

“Initially an attempt was made to remove it laparoscopically, but due to its size this was impossible and it has been removed through open surgery. This mass, in medical terminology, is called trichopilima”, said pediatric surgeon Katerina Rammata, who examined the teenager and performed the operation, speaking to APE-MPE.

Raphuzel syndrome

Hair loss is characteristic of Rapunzel Syndrome, a rare disorder named after the well-known fairy tale heroine with long hair. It is created due to trichotillomania, i.e. with the voluntary detachment of hairs and ingestion by the patient himself.

This is a extremely rare phenomenonMs. Rammata reported and added: “They have reported around 500 cases worldwidei.e. as a percentage it is around 0.04%.

I, personally, had not faced such an incident until now. Every doctor may never have faced something like this in their life, especially this big.”

Rapunzel syndrome occurs nine times more often in women than in men, and in these cases 80% of cases are mainly found in children or adolescents.

Human hair, resistant to gastric juices and peristaltic movements of the alimentary canal, adheres to fatty substances and food debris and forms a mass in the stomach, which can extend into the duodenum in the form of a tail and can sometimes cause intestinal obstruction .