1/526. Successful salvage treatment for relapse after autologous stem cell transplantation in a patient with Hodgkin's disease--a case report.We report a patient who relapsed 12 months after undergoing high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation for refractory Hodgkin's disease, nodular sclerosis. The patient received sequential single-dose chemotherapy consisting of 140 mg/m2 epirubicin, 1.4 mg/m2 vincristine, and 50 mg/m2 prednisole on day 1, followed by 4000 mg/m2 cyclophosphamide on day 15 and 2000 mg/m2 etoposide on day 30. This regimen was given twice, predominantly on an outpatient basis without major toxicity. The patient reached a complete remission and has remained free of disease after an observation period of 48 months. Single-dose sequential treatment should be considered for refractory Hodgkin's disease, even for relapse after high-dose chemotherapy, as escalated single doses of cytostatic agents may overcome drug resistance.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = major (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/526. Recurrent toxoplasmosis.A case of recurrent toxoplasmosis in a previously healthy 34-year-old woman is reported. Although she was treated 3 times with co-trimoxazole, which in our experience has been efficient in the treatment of toxoplasmosis, and responded to treatment clinically and serologically, she relapsed with clinical symptoms and rise of anti-toxoplasma titres. Hypothetically, toxoplasmosis is a latent infection which can be activated by other diseases and by immunodepression.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 6.4551576019038keywords = depression (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/526. Primary percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty performed for acute myocardial infarction in a patient with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.A 72-year-old female with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) complained of severe chest pain. electrocardiography showed ST-segment depression and negative T wave in I, aVL and V4-6. Following a diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), urgent coronary angiography revealed 99% organic stenosis with delayed flow in the proximal segment and 50% in the middle segment of the left anterior descending artery (LAD). Subsequently, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) for the stenosis in the proximal LAD was performed. In the coronary care unit, her blood pressure dropped. Hematomas around the puncture sites were observed and the platelet count was 28,000/mm3. After transfusion, electrocardiography revealed ST-segment elevation in I, aVL and V1-6. Urgent recatheterization disclosed total occlusion in the middle segment of the LAD. Subsequently, PTCA was performed successfully. Then, intravenous immunoglobulin increased the platelet count and the bleeding tendency disappeared. A case of AMI with ITP is rare. The present case suggests that primary PTCA can be a useful therapeutic strategy, but careful attention must be paid to hemostasis and to managing the platelet count.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 6.4551576019038keywords = depression (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/526. Improvement of depression and parkinsonism during ECT: a case study.Improvement in signs of parkinsonism and symptoms of depression was observed in a patient with Parkinson's disease who underwent a course of ECT for depression. Empirically this patient was observed by a blind rater to show a pattern of improvement in parkinsonian signs similar to that observed in parkinsonian patients treated with L-dopa. The time course of improvement of this patient's depression was also seen to parallel improvement in his Parkinson's disease. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that ECT increases catecholamine synthesis and more specifically would be evidence that ECT improves depression by increasing norepinephrine synthesis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 51.64126081523keywords = depression (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/526. Three ventriculoplasty techniques applied to three left-ventricular pseudoaneurysms in the same patient.A 59-year-old male patient underwent surgery for triple-vessel coronary artery disease and left-ventricular aneurysm in 1994. Four months after coronary artery bypass grafting and classical left-ventricular aneurysmectomy (with Teflon felt strips), a left-ventricular pseudoaneurysm developed due to infection, and this was treated surgically with an autologous glutaraldehyde-treated pericardium patch over which an omental pedicle graft was placed. Two months later, under emergent conditions, re-repair was performed with a diaphragmatic pericardial pedicle graft due to pseudoaneurysm reformation and rupture. A 3rd repair was required in a 3rd episode 8 months later. Sternocostal resection enabled implantation of the left pectoralis major muscle into the ventricular defect. Six months after the last surgical intervention, the patient died of cerebral malignancy. Pseudoaneurysm reformation, however, had not been observed. To our knowledge, our case is the 1st reported in the literature in which there have been 3 or more different operative techniques applied to 3 or more distinct episodes of pseudoaneurysm formation secondary to post-aneurysmectomy infection. We propose that pectoral muscle flaps be strongly considered as a material for re-repair of left-ventricular aneurysms.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = major (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/526. Combined use of transverse and scout computed tomography scans to localize radioactive seeds in an interstitial brachytherapy implant.Various techniques have been developed to localize radioactive sources in brachytherapy implants. The most common methods include the orthogonal film method, the stereo-shift film method, and recently, direct localization from a series of contiguous CT transverse images. The major advantage of the CT method is that it provides the seed locations relative to anatomic structures. However, it is often the case that accurate identification and localization of the sources become difficult because of partial source artifacts in more than one transverse cut and other artifacts on CT images. A new algorithm has been developed to combine the advantages of using a pair of orthogonal scout views with the advantages of using a stack of transverse cuts. In the new algorithm, a common reference point is used to correlate CT transverse images and two orthogonal scout CT scans (AP and lateral). The radioactive sources are localized on CT transverse images. At the same time, the sources are displayed automatically on the two CT scout scans. In this way, the individual sources can be clearly distinguished and ambiguities arising from partial source artifacts are resolved immediately. Because of the finite slice thickness of transverse cuts, the longitudinal coordinates are more accurately obtained from the scout views. Therefore, the longitudinal coordinates of seeds localized on the transverse cuts are adjusted so that they match the position of the seeds on scout views. The algorithm has been tested on clinical cases and has proved to be a time saving and accurate method.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = major (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/526. Asymptomatic pancreatitis associated with clozapine.Besides the well-known adverse effects of clozapine, such as granulocytopenia, tiredness and hypersalivation, acute pancreatitis is known to be a very rare complication of the drug. In the literature a total of five case reports have been published so far. We report a case of asymptomatic pancreatitis subsequent to clozapine treatment at therapeutic doses in a 38-year-old male patient with chronic paranoid-hallucinatory schizophrenia. The patient was rehospitalized after an acute exacerbation of the psychosis subsequent to an attempt to change medication on an outpatient basis. Treatment with clozapine was initiated again. During phases of progressively increasing the clozapine dose, serum levels of amylase and lipase were increased; after maintaining daily doses of clozapine of 300 mg and/or 600 mg the pancreatic enzymes normalized quickly within a few days. The patient did not report any pancreas-related complaints, nor did specific diagnostic studies produce any indicative result, only a minor thickening of the head and body of the pancreas in the ultrasound. It is assumed that the phenomenon of subclinical, asymptomatic pancreatitis during increasing dosage of clozapine occurs more often than previously supposed. The monitoring of serum amylase levels during slow increase in clozapine is recommended; if leukocytosis or eosinophilia is present, the possibility of even a subclinical and asymptomatic pancreatitis should be considered.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 8.5553049811108keywords = psychosis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/526. Reappearing CT lesions: 4 cases.An overwhelming majority of disappearing CT lesions in india have been aetiologically linked to cysticercosis. We report 4 patients with disappearing CT lesions in whom the lesion later reappeared at the same (3 patients) or different site (1 patient). One patient was a taenia carrier. Serial MRI evaluation in one patient revealed a persisting lesion in the interval period. The contribution of these observations towards the understanding of the aetiology of disappearing CT lesions is discussed.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = major (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/526. Relapsing pneumonia due to a migrating intrathoracic foreign body in a World war II veteran shot 53 years ago.In the great majority of cases of long-standing intrathoracic foreign bodies, patients are asymptomatic. However, symptoms may occur years later from the migration of the foreign body. We report on a 70-year-old patient who developed relapsing pneumonia due to obstruction of a bronchial branch of the left apical group by a migrating infantry bullet impacting 53 years ago. This was not diagnosed until the second attack of pneumonia in 1998. The bullet remains were removed bronchoscopically and the pneumonia resolved completely without further complications.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = major (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/526. Antiperistaltic Roux-en-Y biliary-enteric bypass after bile duct injury: a technical error in reconstruction.Bilioenteric reconstruction using a Roux limb of jejunum is a well-established surgical option for the reconstruction of the proximal bile duct. Previous studies discussing short- and long-term complications of biliary-enteric anastomosis have focused on technical aspects, such as the use of anastomotic stenting or the level of the biliary tree used. We report two cases of previously unreported complications after hepaticojejunostomy that resulted from a technical error in constructing the Roux limb. Within a 3-month period, two patients were referred to our institution with recurrent cholangitis after biliary reconstruction for injuries sustained during laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Reexploration disclosed major technical flaws in the construction of the Roux limb used for biliary drainage. Antiperistaltic limbs had been constructed in both patients: one from the distal ileum and one from the conventional location in the jejunum. In both cases, isoperistaltic reconstruction of the Roux limbs resolved the recurrent cholangitis. cholangitis after biliary-enteric bypass can arise from a variety of etiologies and lead to anastomotic narrowing or ineffective drainage of the biliary tree. review of the literature failed to disclose reports of technically flawed Roux limb construction as a cause of cholangitis. We present these cases to highlight the devastating consequences of antiperistaltic construction of the Roux limb. We hope that by publishing the role of this avoidable error in recurrent cholangitis after biliary-enteric bypass we may help prevent its future occurrence.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = major (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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