Patient: Male, 44-year-old Final Diagnosis: COVID-19 • Guillain-Barré syndrome Symptoms: Facial paralysis Medication: — Clinical Procedure: — Specialty: Critical Care Medicine • Medicine, General and Internal • Neurology Objective: Rare disease Background: This case report is of a patient who presented with loss of taste and facial weakness and was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and Bell’s palsy, associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. GBS is a neurological emergency defined as acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. The patient responded to intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment. Case Report: We present the case of a 44-year-old Hispanic man who came for evaluation of bilateral facial weakness and lack of taste sensation. He had lower motor neuron facial weakness. His head computed tomography and brain magnetic resonance imaging scans did not show any pathological abnormalities. He tested positive for SARSCoV-2 by a nasopharyngeal swab reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis via lumbar puncture revealed elevated protein levels, no leukocytes, and a negative Gram stain. The CSF RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 was negative. PCR tests of the CSF for other viral infections were negative. A diagnosis of GBS was made, and he was treated successfully with IVIG. After the fourth dose of IVIG, the patient was able to close his eyes, frown, show his teeth, and smile. Conclusions: Our case is rare because the patient did not present with lower extremity weakness, but only with bilateral Bell’s palsy. Physicians should be aware of GBS because it is a neurological emergency for which COVID-19 can be a risk factor. Early diagnosis and treatment of GBS can prevent neurological disability.
Cerebral air embolism (CAE) is an infrequently reported complication of routine medical procedures. We present two cases of CAE. The first patient was a 55-year-old male presenting with vomiting and loss of consciousness one day after his hemodialysis session. Physical exam was significant for hypotension and hypoxia with no focal neurologic deficits. Computed tomography (CT) scan of head showed gas in cerebral venous circulation. The patient did not undergo any procedures prior to presentation, and his last hemodialysis session was uneventful. Retrograde rise of venous air to the cerebral circulation was the likely mechanism for venous CAE. The second patient was a 46-year-old female presenting with fever, shortness of breath, and hematemesis. She was febrile, tachypneic, and tachycardic and required intubation and mechanical ventilation. An orogastric tube inserted drained 2500 mL of bright red blood. Flexible laryngoscopy and esophagogastroduodenoscopy were performed. She also underwent central venous catheter placement. CT scan of head performed the next day due to absent brain stem reflexes revealed intravascular air within cerebral arteries. A transthoracic echocardiogram with bubble study ruled out patent foramen ovale. The patient had a paradoxical CAE in the absence of a patent foramen ovale.
Patient: Male, 67Final Diagnosis: Recurrent metastatic eccrine porocarcinomaSymptoms: Skin lesionMedication: —Clinical Procedure: —Specialty: DermatologyObjective:Rare diseaseBackground:Eccrine porocarcinoma, or malignant eccrine poroma, is a rare primary skin tumor that develops in the sixth and seventh decades of life, and can present as a painless and solitary nodule. Histopathology is required to confirm the diagnosis. A rare case is presented of metastatic eccrine porocarcinoma, occurring four years after surgical excision of the primary scalp tumor, and includes a review of the literature.Case Report:A 67-year-old man initially presented with a scalp lesion that was non-painful, exophytic, and pigmented. Following complete excision, histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of eccrine porocarcinoma with clear resection margins. Four years later, he presented with discrete erythematous patches and plaques, in a zosteriform distribution, in the skin of the right neck, shoulder, and chest. A biopsy and histopathology of the skin rash confirmed metastatic eccrine porocarcinoma. A positron-emission tomography-computed tomography (PETCT) scan identified areas of hypermetabolic activity, with a standardized uptake value (SUV) of 12, and an infiltrating soft tissue tumor in the right suboccipital region. Surgical resection of the suboccipital mass, followed by histopathology, confirmed metastatic eccrine porocarcinoma. During a postoperative ear, nose, and throat (ENT) examination, he was found to have metastases in the right ear canal. The patient received five cycles of chemotherapy, but later developed renal failure and eventually chose palliative care.Conclusions:A rash-like presentation of skin metastasis to the trunk and metastasis to the ear from a primary eccrine porocarcinoma is rare. Early diagnosis and adequate surgical resection are recommended to reduce patient mortality.
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