The gastroenterologists at the “Agios Loukas” clinic in Thessaloniki were surprised when they found a ball of hair weighing 700 grams in the stomach of a 14-year-old girl who was taken to the Emergency Department.

According to doctors, the hair in question is one of the largest to have been identified and removed worldwide.

As the pediatric surgeon and head of the Pediatric Surgery Department of the “Agios Loukas” clinic, Katerina Rammata, explains, it is a mass of undigested hairs in the stomach, after they have been swallowed. The frequency in the general population ranges from 0.06% to 4%,” he said.

The 14-year-old girl suffered from Rapunzel syndrome, which makes teenagers, especially teenagers, want to eat their own hair. Her parents hadn’t noticed the slightest. The girl has now recovered and is receiving psychological support.

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.