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Introduction: Torsion of the gallbladder is a rare condition that most commonly affects the elderly. Pre-operative diagnosis is the exception rather than the rule. Any delay in treatment can be fatal as the gallbladder may rupture, leading to biliary peritonitis.

resonance. The guidelines for magnetic resonance imaging in Britain laid down by the National Radiological Protection Board allow for studies during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. Smith has reported his findings in 120 normal and abnormal pregnancies (Smith F W, presented at fourth annual meeting of Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 1985). After 26 weeks, gestation he found that the fetal head, brain, eyes, lungs, heart, liver, bladder, and limbs were routinely seen. In normal pregnancies uterine size correlated closely with birth weight. Myelination of the basal ganglia could be identified and followed from as early as 34 weeks. Studies of fetal subcutaneous fat thickness are readily carried out. Gross malformations such as hydrocephalus and hydronephrosis are easily recognised. Despite the current rather long imaging times compared with those of ultrasonic examination, these preliminary findings suggest that sufficiently good images are obtainable to allow fetal development to be studied without radiation hazard. In particular, the stage maturation of the central nervous system, liver size, and subcutaneous fat thickness allow better differentiation of the growth retarded fetus as opposed to the "genetically or physiologically" small fetus.

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The effectiveness of routine outpatient follow up in detecting recurrent disease after ‘curative’ surgery for breast cancer has been evaluated in a retrospective study of 148 patients. In all, 32 patients developed recurrent cancer. In 3 cases, asymptomatic disease was discovered by routine X-rays. In 25 cases, the patient noticed local disease or complained of symptoms due to distant spread, and over half of these returned to the clinic before the next routine appointment. In only 4 cases was routine examination by a doctor solely responsible for the discovery of recurrent disease. It is concluded that routine follow up made little contribution to the welfare of these patients.

Summary The management of postoperative lymphoceles is often lengthy and unsatisfactory. We describe the successful treatment of a recurrent lymphocele by the repeated injection of sodium tetradecylsulphate (STD) after percutaneous aspiration. This method of treatment has not to our knowledge been previously described.