Scurvy is a nutritional disorder caused by vitamin C deficiency. It was a notorious disease in the ancient world, especially among the sailors, and is of rare occurrence in contemporary, developed countries due to increased access and advancement in nutrition services. Scurvy primarily affects the skin and soft tissue, presenting with a myriad of clinical manifestations ranging from musculoskeletal to bleeding-related complaints and even sudden death in later stages. In this article, we present the case of an elderly female with scurvy-related weakness and gait instability leading to mechanical falls, easy bruising, fatigue, and petechial rash. She had improvement in her constitutional symptoms after the initiation of vitamin C supplements. This case reinforces the need to consider scurvy as one of the differentials for petechial rash and easy bruising apart from bleeding diathesis and vasculitis in the contemporary world, especially in atrisk populations.
Chryseobacterium species are recognized as an emerging opportunistic bacterial pathogen in nosocomial settings especially in debilitated or immunosuppressed patients and neonates. The ubiquitous distribution in nature, ability to form biofilms with inherent resistance to broad-spectrum antimicrobials, and lack of clinical studies pose a further diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. This case report describes an elderly male with relapsed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) status post-chemotherapy and radiation who acquired healthcare-associated pneumonia with sputum isolates showing Chryseobacterium gleum and Stenotrophomonas maltophila. It also includes a review of literature compiling all the previously reported cases with antibiotic susceptibilities, clinical picture, and treatment outcomes.
INTRODUCTION Aggressive NK-cell leukemia ( ANKL) is a systemic lymphoproliferative disorder of natural killer (NK) cells frequently associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) which has been grouped under histiocytic/dendritic neoplasms in the 2008 WHO classification of hematopoietic neoplasms. Due to rarity of diagnosis, the current available literature is limited to case reports and case series. This population-based study using Surveillance Epidemiology and End result program (SEER) is the largest to explore demographic characteristics, survival patterns and long-term outcomes in patients with ANKL in the United States. MATERIALS AND METHODS We utilized SEER 18 November 2020 submission database to select all patients (> 1 years of age) diagnosed from 2000-2018 with ANKL using International Classification of Diseases for Oncology edition 3 (ICD-O-3) code of 9948/3. Patients were divided into various cohorts based on age (<60 years, 60-79 years, >80 years), sex, race (Caucasians, African American, Asian/Pacific islander and American Indians/Alaska natives) and median household income of county of residence (< $ 50,000 vs > $50,000). We used SEER*stat to calculate age adjusted incidence rate using 2000 US standard population. Kaplan Meier curve was utilized to calculate 5-year overall survival. Cox proportional hazard model was used for multivariate analysis of factors associated with survival and p<0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS A total of 140 patients were identified with ANKL. The median age at diagnosis is 58 years. The crude, age-adjusted to 2000 US standard population and age-specific incidence rate of HCD in Unites states is < 1/100, 000 respectively. The incidence in males is 1.9 times that of females- 92 males (65.7%) and 48 females (34.2%). Between 2001-2018, minimum number of cases were diagnosed in 2010 (n=2).Out of the cohort, 107 patients were White (76.4%), 21 patients were Asian or Pacific islander (15 %), 9 patients were African Americans (6.4%) and 3 patients were American Indian/Alaska native (2.1%). The median overall survival was 7 months (95% CI; 0-16). Survival rates at 1year, 2 years and 5 years were found to be 45.3% , 37.1 % and 31.1% respectively [Figure 1]. 5 year overall survival rates are as follows- Whites ( 69.7% ), Blacks ( 63.1%), American Indian (59.9%), Asian or Pacific Islander ( 66.8%). On multivariate analysis, black race was associated with poor outcomes (p 0.008), whereas sex, income and age had no significant effect on cancer outcomes. CONCLUSIONS Our study shows that ANKL is a rare hematological malignancy in general population with a poor median survival of less than one year. Males are twice more likely to be affected than females with poor outcomes in africo-americans. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
BACKGROUND Heavy chain diseases (HCDs) are B-cell neoplasms characterised by production of monoclonal (M) protein consisting only of immunoglobulin heavy chain without a bound light chain. Three types have been recognized- IgA alpha HCD (most common, a form of extra nodal marginal zone lymphoma of mucosal associated lymphoid tissue aka immunoproliferative small intestinal disease [IPSID], Mediterranean lymphoma or Seligmann disease], IgG gamma HCD (aka Franklin's disease, variant of lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma) and IgM mu HCD (rarest, resembles chronic lymphocytic leukemia). Limited data is available regarding the epidemiology, survival patterns, and incidence of second primary malignancies in patients with HCD in the Unites States. MATERIALS AND METHODS We performed a retrospective analysis using SEER* stat version 8.3.9 statistical software and November 2020 submission of SEER 18 registry which covers ~ 27.8 % of US population based on the 2010 census. We identified all cases > 1 years old diagnosed with Heavy chain disease between 2000 and 2018 using International Classification of Diseases for Oncology edition 3 (ICD-O-3) code 9762/3. We analyzed survival using Kaplan- Meier method, and MP-SIR session was used to calculate the risk of second primary malignancy. RESULTS A total of 64 cases of HCD were identified. Most common primary sites of involvement were bone marrow (82.8%), lymph nodes (9.3%), GI tract (3.1%), others (4.6%)- spleen, blood and vertebral column. The crude, age-adjusted to 2000 US standard population and age-specific incidence rate of HCD in the United States is < 1/100,000 respectively. The median age at diagnosis is 68 years with incidence in males being about 1.3 times that of females. Bimodal age distribution was observed, with peak incidence between ages 60-64 and 75-79 [Figure 1]. In our entire cohort, 82.8% (n=53) patients were Caucasians, 15.6 % (n=10) patients were African Americans, and 1.5% (n=1) patients were American Indian/Alaska Native. Among Caucasians, 56.6% (n=30) patients were males, and 43.3% (n=23) patients were females. Between 2000-2018, the maximum cases (n=7 each) were diagnosed in the year 2002 and 2008 [Figure 2] The median overall survival for the entire cohort was 48 months (95% CI: 35- 61). Overall survival rates of all ages, sex and race at 1 year, 2 year and 5 years were found to be 86.1%, 71.4%, 57.8% respectively. OS at 5 years declines after 70 years .Patients with HCD are at risk of developing subsequent solid and haematological malignancies within 5 years of diagnosis. 9 (14 %) cases developed SPMs: urinary bladder (n=1), lung and bronchus (n=2), Hodgkin-nodal (n=1), Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma -extra nodal (n=1), GI cancers [stomach (n=1), esophagus (n=1) and ascending colon (n=1)], miscellaneous (n=1). [Figure 4]. The mean follow-up duration for new SPM was 51 months. Overall, 39 patients died: 3 (4%) from miscellaneous malignant cancer and 11 (17%) patients from haematological malignancy; the most common being Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (n=8), followed by Hodgkin lymphoma (n=1), Multiple myeloma (n=1) and leukemia (n=1). CONCLUSIONS HCD is an extremely rare haematological malignancy. The incidence of HCD is proportionately higher among Caucasians as compared to other races, with no reported case among Asian or Pacific Islanders. Among Caucasians, males and females have approximately equal risk of acquiring HCD. Most patient die because of their primary haematological malignancy. We recommend close follow-up for at least the first 5 years after initial diagnosis. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
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