No abstract

A 20-year-old female patient with a family history significant for Peutz-Jeghers syndrome presented to the hospital multiple times with complaints of abdominal pain. On the initial visit to the hospital, the patient underwent small bowel resection for small bowel obstruction secondary to intussusception, following which she visited the hospital again one year later for similar complaints and underwent reduction of multiple points of intussusception of the small bowel without any resection of the same. Eventually, the patient underwent resection of the small bowel for the second time, along with tumor resections. The importance of follow-up in patients with Peutz-Jeghers is particularly essential, in part, because it is vital to monitor the tumors, their size, and number to prevent surgical intestinal complications, anemia, and also to eventually monitor for carcinomatous changes.

A commonly seen phenomenon in the hospital and critical care setting is anaphylaxis. This acute systemic inflammatory reaction can lead to anaphylactic shock in severe cases and potentially be fatal. The role of platelets in anaphylactic reactions is not well established; however, platelets, among other mediators such as platelet-activating factor, have been shown to promote a prothrombotic state shortly after an acute hypersensitivity reaction. In addition, the aggregation of platelets promoted by platelet-activating factor and other mediators can also lead to thrombocytopenia. We present a case of a 57-year-old woman who developed severe anaphylaxis while receiving chemotherapy with paclitaxel suspended in Cremophor, a well-known allergen. She was profoundly thrombocytopenic following the reaction and was treated with therapeutic anticoagulation, with no thrombus formation.

No abstract