A previously healthy 74-year-old woman was admitted with vespertine fever, tremors, shivers and loss of appetite within the previous month. Blood tests revealed an elevated C reactive protein serum level. Serologies for infection were negative. Blood cultures grew no organisms. Colonoscopy revealed normal findings. CT showed typical findings of mesenteric panniculitis with infiltration of mesenteric fat that was circumscribed by hyperattenuating capsule and contained enlarged homogenous lymph nodes. The histopathological analysis from mesenterium revealed non-specific signs of chronic inflammation. On institution of prednisolone, the clinical symptoms subsided, and we replaced it with azathioprine after 1 month. After 12 months of therapy, the patient remained asymptomatic, normalised the serological inflammatory markers and repeat CT revealed normal mesenteric fat.
Case presentation: A middle-aged woman presented to the emergency department with a chief complaint of abdominal pain, fever, vomiting, and diarrhea. Abdominal computed tomography revealed gastric pneumatosis and air in the portal system. The patient had an unfavorable clinical course with pneumoperitoneum and septic shock due to secondary peritonitis. She underwent emergency laparotomy where neoformation of the mesentery root was found with infiltration of the small intestine and jejunal perforation. The anatomopathological study of the tumor revealed that it was a desmoid tumor. Discussion: To our knowledge this is the first report in the literature of gastric pneumatosis as the initial presentation of a mesenteric desmoid tumor. Although it usually has a benign clinical course, its locally invasive characteristics can lead to critical illness. Physicians shouldn’t overlook these types of complications, as early identification and surgical intervention can modify the prognosis and shorten hospital stay.
Introduction: Febrile neutropenia (FN) induced by chemotherapy (ChT) arises until 6 weeks after the last cycle, usually between 5 and 10 days post-ChT. Infection risk is 20%–30%. It is difficult to stratify patients with low risk of complications due to FN. MASCC index is useful but has limitations. This correlates with unnecessary hospital admissions, complications, and costs. Methods: Retrospective study of patients with diagnosis of FN induced by ChT, admitted to our center between 2012 and 2016. Primary goal was to describe this population. Secondary goal was to re-stratify the risk of FN using MASCC and CISNE indexes, clinical judgement, and social/logistic factors. SPSS v23 was used for statistical analysis. Results: 211 patients were included; median age, 66 years. Median hospital stay was 6 days (1–89). 25% were nosocomial admissions. At admission 46% of patients presented with stage IV cancer. 75% were solid neoplasms and 25% were hematologic. Profound neutropenia was observed in 43% and severe neutropenia in 36%. Overall mortality rate was 13%. Sepsis was diagnosed in 24 patients (11%), with a mortality rate of 54%. Only 12.3% of patients had prophylaxis with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor. At admission, 64% of patients had no obvious focal infection; 20% had probable focus; and in 16% a microorganism was identified, most commonly gram-negative Enterobacteriaceae. Most used antibiotics were piperacillin/tazobactam (44%) and its combination with aminoglycoside (34%). This combination showed benefit against some extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)–producing strains and multiresistant (MR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2.8%). MASCC index identified 31% of patients with low risk FN. After applying the CISNE index, clinical judgement, and social/logistic factors, only 11% were identified as low-risk FN and did not benefit from admission. This translates to an avoidable cost of €48,000 according to the center’s annual report. Conclusion: The combination of β-lactam and aminoglycoside is overused in our practice. It is not recommended in hemodynamically stable patients and contradictory in unstable ones; still it shows some effect versus MR and ESBL strains. A study to evaluate their incidence in our center is now in progress. Low risk FN was observed in 11% of admitted patients. Our center has an internal protocol and has been able to provide a good overall response.
Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) is a hepatic venous outflow obstruction. A 36-year-old caucasian female was admitted with symptomatic hypoglycaemia. Lab tests revealed mild leucocytosis, thrombocytopenia and hepatic cytolysis. The abdominal ultrasound showed mild hepatomegaly due to hypertrophy of the left and caudate lobes, no blood flow on the right and medium hepatic veins and multiple intra-hepatic collateral vessels. Upper endoscopy showed grade I varicose veins. Further studies ruled out common prothrombotic disorders but identified an inherited thrombophilia: a plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) 4G/5G heterozygous polymorphism. On presentation, this patient had signs of cirrhosis and secondary portal hypertension from imaging results at the time of diagnosis but no symptoms. Four years after the diagnosis the patient continues asymptomatic, which is very unusual. This patient's outcome will be favourable as long as the cirrhosis is compensated by the collateral vessels' permeability. Our case highlights a new association between primary BCS secondary to a prothrombotic inherited mutation: the PAI-1 4G/5G polymorphism.
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.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.