Patient: Female, 51Final Diagnosis: Transient ischemic attackSymptoms: Unilateral left-sided weakness and slurred speechMedication: Lisinopril 20 mg dailyClinical Procedure: Transesophageal echocardiogramSpecialty: Cardiology • NeurologyObjective:Rare diseaseBackground:In 1856, a Bohemian physician, Vilém Dušan Lambl, first described the presence of filiform lesions in aortic valve leaflets. Lambl’s excrescences are tiny filiform strands that arise on the line of valve closure, and result from valvular wear and tear. It is a rare cause of cardioembolic stroke that can be detected by transesophageal echocardiogram.Case Report:We encountered a 51-year-old, African-American woman with a history of recurrent strokes that we suspect may be the result of Lambl’s excrescence. The patient was treated with dual antiplatelet therapy and was recommended to have surveillance transesophageal echocardiograms at 6 months and 1 year from the time of discharge.Conclusions:As there are no definitive guidelines for the management of patients with Lambl’s excrescences, we present a review of the current medical literature and a specific case report in an attempt to provide a better strategy for managing this condition. In our case report, we focus on the management and treatment for Lambl’s excrescence because no clear evidence has been published in the literature. Our review indicates that Lambl’s excrescence, despite its relative scarcity, should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a patient with cryptogenic stroke.

Gram-positive cocci species, notably Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, and Enterococcus account for 80 to 90% of infective endocarditis cases. HACEK microorganisms (Haemophilus spp., Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Cardiobacterium hominis, Eikenella corrodens, and Kingella kingae) account for approximately 3% of cases and Candida species account for 1-2% of cases. Micrococcus luteus is a rare cause of endocarditis. To our knowledge, only 17 cases of prosthetic valve endocarditis have been described due to M. luteus and a single case of native aortic valve endocarditis has been described. The following case is the only documented case of native mitral valve endocarditis. A review of the literature pertaining to Micrococcus endocarditis was performed to further characterize the entity.

Pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma is a rare vascular tumor and infrequently described in medical literature as case reports and case series. Diagnosis is often incidental with high index of histopathological suspicion from clinical pathologist. The pathological pattern is quite unique with distinct immunohistochemical stains. Up to this day, there is no established standard treatment owing to the scarcity of this tumor. In this case report, we describe a case of pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma unexpectedly diagnosed with transthoracic needle biopsy, along with a review of the current literature.

Vitamin A deficiency is rarely encountered in the western world. When encountered, vitamin A deficiency is seen as a component of the malabsorption spectrum of disease. Given the infrequency of nutritional deficits in the developed world, vitamin A-associated ophthalmologic disease is rarely encountered. We report a case of a 56-year-old male with severe vitamin A deficiency in the setting of alcoholic liver cirrhosis. This case emphasizes two important points. First, it considers vitamin A deficiency as a cause of corneal ulceration in patients with chronic alcoholism. Second, it raises awareness of hepatotoxicity that can result after the supplementation of vitamin A in patients with chronic alcoholism. Although an uncommon diagnosis, it should be considered when other causes, such as infectious and autoimmune conditions, are ruled out.