Recurrent autoimmune hemolytic anemia in splenic marginal zone lymphoma.

Autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) is a condition associated with an extensive differential diagnosis that includes lymphoid malignancies. Although AIHA occurs in about 10-25% of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, it is also reported to occur in all of the other lymphoid subtypes. In this article, we report a case of recurrent AIHA in a 67-year-old woman with two acute episodes of hemolysis separated by 3 years of hematologic remission. Both episodes were severe enough to require blood transfusion, oral steroids, and rituximab. Bone marrow biopsy and immunophenotyping using flow cytometry done during both admissions confirmed the presence of splenic marginal zone lymphoma

Acute Tubulointerstitial Nephritis: A Case Report on Rare Adverse Effect of Pembrolizumab.

Pembrolizumab is a novel immune checkpoint inhibitor approved for use in non-small cell lung carcinoma. There have been a few cases that have associated adverse renal outcomes with pembrolizumab. We present a case of acute kidney injury in a patient on pembrolizumab who was noted to have acute tubulointerstitial nephritis on renal biopsy. Pembrolizumab was discontinued and the patient was started on long-term corticosteroids with a taper. Her renal function improved partially with treatment

Multifactorial aetiology for non-uremic calciphylaxis: a case report.

Calciphylaxis is commonly associated with end-stage renal disease patients on haemodialysis. We present a rare case of calciphylaxis in a non-uremic patient. The diagnosis was made clinically and confirmed with skin biopsy showing calcification of the dermal and subcutaneous tissues in the von Kossa stain. We believe that the combination of uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, a non-functioning paraganglioma and vitamin D deficiency in a susceptible female patient was responsible for causing calciphylaxis in our patient. An index of suspicion should be maintained by clinicians for calciphylaxis even in patients without uremia

Quadricuspid Aortic Valve: Report of Two Cases and Brief Review.

Quadricuspid aortic valve (QAV) is a rare congenital cardiac defect characterized by the presence of four aortic valve leaflets of equal or varying sizes. Even rarer is its clinical presentation with aortic stenosis. Diagnosis of QAV could be challenging but is of great importance as patients often present with progressive aortic regurgitation. We present 2 cases of QAV presenting differently: one with aortic stenosis requiring valve replacement and the other with aortic regurgitation requiring close monitoring

Daptomycin associated eosinophilic pneumonia: case report and differential diagnoses.

Daptomycin is a bactericidal antibiotic approved for treatment of gram-positive skin and soft tissue infections. We present a case of an 89-year-old man who presented with fever, shortness of breath and nonproductive cough on week 4 of starting daptomycin for infective endocarditis. Computerized tomography scan showed bilateral interstitial infiltrates predominantly affecting the lower lobes. He also had peripheral eosinophilia of 6%. He was diagnosed with eosinophilic pneumonia secondary to daptomycin use. His symptoms improved with discontinuation of daptomycin and initiation of corticosteroids. Clinical correlation of pneumonia-like presentation with recent use of daptomycin should make physicians rule out this rare adverse effect for early institution of correct treatment

Yearly trend of acute venous thromboembolism in patients admitted with heart failure in the United States.

Introduction: Heart failure (HF) patients are at risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE) during the hospital stay. We aim to study the recent trend of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE), and VTE in heart failure patients from years 2000-2013. Methods: We utilized the National (Nationwide) Inpatient Sample database and selected non-pregnant patients over the age of 18 years for this purpose. We selected HF, DVT, PE, and VTE based on International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM). We used STATA for analysis. Results: We noted an increase in prevalence of DVT, PE and composite VTE among HF hospitalizations from 0.55%, 0.17% and 0.76% in 2000 to 0.96%, 0.4% and 1.46%, respectively, in 2013 and a decrease in trend of mortality among HF hospitalizations associated with DVT, PE and VTE from 8.95%, 16.36% and 10.80% in 2000 to 6.78%, 7.92% and 7.20%, respectively, in 2013. Conclusion: Increasing prevalence of VTE is concerning and suggests that we still need to work on delivering prophylaxis to all HF inpatients

Prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among rheumatoid arthritis: results from national inpatient database.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is being increasingly recognized as an important contributor to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although smoking is a major risk factor, other factors may play a role. We used National Inpatient Sample (NIS) from 2013 to explore this relationship. We used propensity matching with a 1:3 nearest-neighbor-matching algorithm to match 1 RA hospitalization to 3 age- and-sex-matched comparators. In the age- and-sex-matched population, RA had a higher odds of COPD (OR 1.20, 95% CI: 1.17-1.22

Atraumatic splenic rupture associated with apixaban.

Apixaban is a direct oral anticoagulant that works by inhibiting factor Xa. It has been associated with adverse bleeding outcomes including atraumatic splenic rupture. We present the case of an 86-year-old man who presented with features of left upper abdominal pain and hemorrhagic shock found to have atraumatic splenic rupture and hemoperitoneum on imaging

Primary Hyperparathyroidism in Pregnancy: Successful Parathyroidectomy during First Trimester.

Primary hyperparathyroidism in pregnancy can result in significant maternal and fetal complications. When indicated, prompt parathyroidectomy in the early second trimester is considered the treatment of choice. Pregnant patients with primary hyperparathyroidism who have an indication for parathyroidectomy during the first trimester represent a therapeutic challenge. We present the case of a 32-year-old primigravida who presented with symptomatic hypercalcemia from her primary hyperparathyroidism. She remained symptomatic despite aggressive conservative management and underwent parathyroidectomy in her first trimester with excellent outcomes

An extensive chronic aortic dissection presenting with acute embolic stroke.

Herein, we present a rare case of extensive chronic aortic dissection with extension to bilateral subclavian arteries, bilateral common carotid arteries, right internal carotid artery, bilateral proximal external iliac arteries and simultaneous presentation of acute embolic stroke and seizure. The rarity of this case presentation and the presence of neurological features necessitated a high index of clinical suspicion to reach the definitive diagnosis. This study also demonstrates a unique situation requiring correlation between chronic aortic dissection and multi-organ system dysfunction from chronic ischemia