Löffler endocarditis is an uncommon, but known complication of hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES). It is a relatively rare entity, and remains poorly understood. To this point in time, the compendium of knowledge about this disease consists of various case reports, prospective studies and review articles. We aim to present a scoping study about this disease. Our goals are to identify the characteristic features found in case reports to identify characteristic features found in patients with Löffler endocarditis as a result of hypereosinophilic syndrome. An analysis of the 26 case reports showed a mean age of 41.6 years with a standard deviation of 17.1 years. Dyspnea was the most common presenting complaint (64%) followed by fatigue (23%), cough (19%), fever (19%), orthopnea/paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea (19%), stroke related symptoms (15%), chest pain (15%) and lower extremity edema (15%). The most common cardiac structure affected was the mitral valve (65%), followed by the tricuspid valve (42%), left ventricle (23%), with 35% of cases having involvement of two valves. The most common therapeutic modality was immunosuppression (85%), followed by anticoagulation (73%) and mitral valve replacement (23%). Death was reported in 19% of the cases. Löffler’s endocarditis continues to be associated with high morbidity and mortality. Further research must aim to develop guidelines for management of this uncommon manifestation of hypereosinophilic syndrome.
Varicella Zoster (shingles) virus is a double stranded DNA in the Herpesviridae family that can present as both chicken pox and as shingles. The virus enters through the respiratory system, replicating in the nasopharynx, and causes a viremia upon primary infection. Varicella Zoster spreads to other organs and often lies dormant in the dorsal root ganglion. Reactivation of the virus is more common in older or immunocompromised patients and often presents as a painful vesicular rash in a unilateral dermatomal distribution with possible concurrent radiculopathy. A rare complication of herpes zoster is urinary dysfunction. We report a case of a 42-year-old patient diagnosed with herpes zoster whose primary complaint was left buttock pain and a maculovesicular rash in the S2-S4 dermatomal distribution. She was prescribed Valacyclovir and began to experience urinary retention two days after starting the medication.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.