EMJ 6.3 2021

Gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumour is an extremely rare condition to occur after bariatric surgery. To the authors’ knowledge, only two cases of gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumours after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass have been reported in the medical literature, both occurring in the excluded gastric remnant. Herein, the authors report the third case of gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumour post-Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, and the first case to occur in the gastric pouch, which was managed surgically by laparoscopic resection. From here, combining the observations of clinicians treating and following up patients post-bariatric surgery in an international database will be beneficial to patients, and aid in development of surveillance guidelines.

Since the detection of the first cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant causing COVID-19 infections in South Africa in November 2021, there have been a few population-based reports to suggest that the clinical severity and presentation of this variant is different to previous COVID-19 surges. This variant is known to have several mutations to previous variants of this virus; hence, it was predicted to be much more infectious due to possible immune evasion.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS), also known as an insulin resistance syndrome, has been related to higher blood pressure outside of the normal range, insulin resistance, and increased fasting glucose levels.

A 54-year-old male tested positive in late February on a screening COVID-19 test performed after a family member’s test had become positive. A few weeks later, they presented to the emergency room at a different hospital centre with shortness of breath and fever.