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Two premature babies were admitted separately to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. One patient, a girl, presented with severe anaemia and thrombocytopaenia, the other, another girl, showed isolated thrombocytopaenia. During both pregnancies, ultrasound showed abnormalities of the placenta. The first patient also had intra-uterine growth restriction. A postpartum pathological examination showed abnormalities of both placentae consistent with placental mesenchymal dysplasia. Placental mesenchymal dysplasia is a rare condition which is associated with intra-uterine growth restriction, intra-uterine mortality, prematurity and Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome. Thrombocytopaenia and anaemia are less commonly described in literature and are caused by micro-angiopathic haemolysis in the placenta. Both children had unrestricted growth and development patterns at one year and 6 months follow-up, respectively.

Eosinophilic fasciitis (EF) is a disease with unknown aetiology, although an immunologic pathogenesis is suspected. The characteristic features of this inflammatory disease include scleroderma-like skin indurations, predominantly on the extremities, and peripheral blood eosinophilia. Internal organs are generally not affected. Initiation of systemic glucocorticoid therapy at an early stage results in a good response and remission of symptoms. This is illustrated in 3 cases of EF to demonstrate the importance of early detection in this disease.

A 64-year-old male presented with progressive right-sided inguinal pain radiating to the right flank and lower back. He had noticed an infrequent altered sensibility on frontal parts of his right upper leg. Physical examination demonstrated the presence of a process in the lower abdomen. Computer tomography showed a retroperitoneal tumor with a 10 cm diameter that probably originated from the inferior caval vein (ICV). During an explorative laparotomy a tumor that was compressing the right N. genitofemoralis was radically removed together with the right kidney and the ventral wall of the ICV. The histological diagnosis was a radically removed leiomyosarcoma. Based on the clinical picture, diagnostic imaging and pathologic examination the diagnosis leiomyosarcoma ofthe ICV was confirmed. A leiomyosarcoma of the ICV is a rare tumor with atypical symptomatology and a slow growth rate often leading to a late diagnosis. Surgery is the only effective treatment. The prognosis is moderate.