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Background and Clinical Significance: Retrorectal cystic hamartomas ("Tailgut cysts") are rare developmental cysts that appear in the retrorectal space, arising from aberrant remnants of the post-anal primitive gut in case of an incomplete embryogenetic involution. Case Presentation: We present the case of a 30-year-old woman with a history of chronic lower abdominal pain. Other digestive symptoms, like rectal fullness, constipation, pain on defecation, rectal bleeding or genitourinary obstruction symptoms, were not associated. During a period of 3 years, she underwent several surgical procedures for ovarian cysts, without relieving the symptomatology. A computed tomography (CT) scan showed a presacral tumor with a right pararectal development. A surgical resection of the lesion using an anterior approach was performed, with the final pathological diagnosis of a retrorectal cystic hamartoma ("tailgut cyst"). Conclusions: This case underlines the fact that retrorectal masses can be challenging to diagnose, and tailgut cysts must be taken into consideration in cases of perirectal tumors in patients with a history of multiple failed procedures and surgeries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endometriosis is known to be a chronic, debilitating disease. The pathophysiological mechanisms of endometriosis development include local chronic inflammation and a certain degree of local immune deficit. We investigated the relationship between the endometriosis severity, IL-8, IL-10, BDNF, VEGF-A serum and tissue levels, patient-related pain, and physical activity in a cohort of 46 patients diagnosed with endometriosis who underwent surgery. The same panel of biomarkers was investigated in a control group of 44 reproductive-aged patients with non-endometriotic gynecological pathology who underwent surgical intervention. Our data show a high statistical significance between tissue expression of IL-8, IL-10, patient-related pain, and the severity of endometriosis. No relationship was identified between serum or tissue levels of VEGF-A and BDNF and the severity of endometriosis. These results validate the presence of local chronic inflammation and immune deficit, thereby creating, alongside other studies in the field, an opportunity for the development of innovative and personalized treatment approaches in endometriosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]