Gardner's syndrome: report of a family.

Two cases of Gardner's syndrome in one family are presented. The father presented all three stigmas of the syndrome, while in the daughter no osseous manifestations were found. In the first patient, the diagnosis was made only after the second abdominal operation, when a mesenteric fibrous mass was seen. In the second case, the intestinal polyposis was clinically suspected, considering the hereditary aspects of this syndrome, and the episode of bloody diarrhea presented by this patient. Both patients were treated by subtotal colectomy with ileo-rectal anastomosis. Both of them presented fibrous tumors after the abdominal operation (the father after six years and the daughter after one year). The authors stress the importance of postoperative followup for the detection of fibrous masses that may appear due to the surgical stimulus. The literature on Gardner's syndrome is reviewed and summarized.