Abhinav B. Chandra

Cardiac tamponade caused by fracture and migration of inferior vena cava filter.

A 53-year-old male presented to the emergency room with acute cardiopulmonary compromise. Echocardiography revealed cardiac tamponade. The patient was taken emergently for surgery and a 28 gauge wire of 1.5 cm was retrieved from his right ventricle. A section had fractured from the inferior vena cava (IVC) filter and migrated to the right ventricle, causing perforation and tamponade. Very few cases of fractured IVC filters that have migrated to the heart, and even fewer cases causing cardiac tamponade, have been described. The risk factors that cause migration of IVC filters need to be further elucidated.

Tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy following electroconvulsive therapy.

A 70-year-old woman with extensive psychiatric history, including depression and bipolar disorder, and past medical history of mitral valve prolapse repair (3 years ago) was brought in from the psychiatry ward to the emergency department for evaluation of ECG changes following electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). ECG done after the procedure showed ST elevations in V2-V3 and new T-wave inversions in the precordial leads. Troponin level was 0.23 ng/ml. An echocardiogram revealed apical akinesis with segmental wall motion abnormalities and a decreased ejection fraction of 30-35%. Cardiac catheterization revealed clean coronaries. A repeat echocardiogram 6 weeks after the event showed a normal ejection fraction. A diagnosis of tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy was made. ECT causes a significant increase in bigeminy, trigeminy, and supraventricular tachycardia. ECT is associated with a low mortality rate; in the range of 0.01-0.1% and 75% of these are attributable to cardiovascular causes. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of tako-tsubo syndrome immediately following electroconvulsive therapy.

Protothecal Olecranon Bursitis: An Unusual Algal Infection

Prototheca is an achlorophyllic alga which rarely causes infections in humans and protothecal olecranon bursitis is remarkably rare. We report a case of a 76-year-old immunocompetent man presenting with pain and swelling of the right elbow secondary to protothecal infection. Initial cultures of the olecranon bursal aspirate revealed no growth; however, repeat aspiration after 2 months grew prototheca species on culture. Prototheca wickerhamii and Prototheca zopfii are the only 2 protothecal species known to cause human infections. Protothecal infection can manifest as skin infections, extremity infections, bursitis and very rarely as systemic infections. Treatment of protothecal infections remains controversial. Amphoterecin B, ketoconazole and fluconazole have been reported to yield a successful outcome. More recently, itraconazole has been found to be curative. Surgical excision of the bursa remains the definitive treatment. Our patient was treated with itraconazole with a favorable response.

Brugada syndrome unmasked by lithium.

A 38-year-old man was brought by emergency medical service after resuscitation following cardiac arrest. The patient was found pulseless with a wide complex tachycardia. The patient had bipolar disorder and was on lithium, lamotrigine, and ziprasidone. His electrolytes and lithium levels were normal. An electrocardiogram (EKG) was performed the next day and showed type 1 Brugada pattern. Lithium was held. Electrophysiologists made a diagnosis of drug-unmasked Brugada syndrome. Lithium can unmask Brugada syndrome through its ability to block sodium channels, even at subtherapeutic concentrations. Physicians need to be aware of this potentially fatal drug effect and should monitor EKGs of patients on lithium.

Disseminated tuberculosis secondary to adalimumab.

A 62-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis presented with fever (T-103.9°F). Vital signs and physical examination were normal. She was taking adalimumab, methotrexate, and prednisone for the past 9 months. Blood and urine cultures, human immunodeficiency virus, rapid plasma reagin, purified protein derivative, and cerebrospinal fluid test findings were negative. Computed tomography showed scattered 0.2-cm nodules in the lungs and innumerable subcentimeter lesions in the liver and spleen. Broad-spectrum antibiotics were started empirically. Liver biopsy findings revealed necrotizing granulomas and were negative for acid fast bacilli and fungi on staining. As the patient was persistently febrile despite antibiotics, the antibiotics were discontinued, and an antituberculous regimen including INH, ethambutol, and pyrazinamide was initiated empirically on day 40 of hospitalization. Fourteen days after liver biopsy, acid-fast bacilli grew in the tissue culture. Disseminated tuberculosis (TB) was diagnosed. Fever subsided after 1 week of anti-TB treatment. Antitumor necrosis factor alpha therapy in rheumatoid arthritis increases the risk of TB 5-fold. This is mostly as a result of reactivation of latent TB and commonly presents as disseminated TB. It usually occurs in the early stage of treatment. In our patient, the screening test results for TB before initiation of Adalimumab could have been falsely negative due to immunosuppression secondary to steroids. Our case emphasizes that current screening tests can miss latent TB especially in immunosuppressed patients. As it is difficult to diagnose TB with polymerase chain reaction and culture, histopathology should be sought early. Patients on antitumor necrosis factor alpha therapy presenting with fever of unknown origin should be considered for empirical anti-TB treatment regardless of microbiological and tissue diagnosis.

A Comparative Study of Primary Adenoid Cystic and Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma of Lung

Background Pulmonary mucoepidermoid carcinoma (PMEC) and pulmonary adenoid cystic carcinoma (PACC) are the two major types of primary salivary gland-type (PSGT) lung cancers. The demographic profile, clinicopathological features, and predictors of survival as an overall group have not been described for PSGT cancers of lung. Methods In this study, we analyzed demographic, clinical, and survival data from 1,032 patients (546 PMEC and 486 PACC) who were diagnosed of PSGT lung cancer in the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database from 1973 to 2014. Results The PSGT constituted 0.09% of all lung cancers with age-adjusted incidence rate of 0.07 per 100,000 person-years and change of −32% from 1973 to 2014. The incidence of PMEC was slightly higher than PACC but there were no differences in the age and sex distribution. PACCs (55%) were significantly higher at trachea and main bronchus while PMECs were more common at peripheral lungs (85%). Most of the tumors were diagnosed at an early stage and were low grade irrespective of histology. As compared to PMEC, significantly higher number of patients with PACC underwent radical surgery and received adjuvant radiation. The 1- and 5-year cause-specific survival was 76.6 and 62.8%, respectively. On multivariate analysis, the survival was affected by age at diagnosis, tumor stage, histological grade, period of diagnosis, and surgical resection. The histology showed strong interaction with time and hazard ratio of patients with PACC was significantly worse than patients with PMEC only after 5 years. Conclusion The incidence of pulmonary PSGT cancer is 7 cases per 10 million population in the United States and is decreasing. There was no difference between demographic profile of patients with PMEC and PACC but pathological features were diverse. The difference in the survival of patients with the two histological types surfaced only after 5 years when survival of patients with PMEC was better than PACC.

Avascular Osteonecrosis of the Mandible Following Bisphosphonate Therapy

Cancer patients receiving bisphosphonate therapy, both intravenously and orally, are predisposed to developing osteonecrosis of the jaw. We present a case of a 66-year-old man with metastatic prostate cancer who spontaneously developed avascular necrosis of the mandible after being on intravenous zoledronic acid for 1 year. Jaw osteonecrosis commonly presents with mild to severe jaw pain. Although most of the reported cases give a history of dental procedures, there have been cases of osteonecrosis developing spontaneously. In cases of established osteonecrosis of the jaw, there is little evidence to suggest that the discontinuation of bisphosphonate therapy aides in healing, as bisphosphonates have a very long half-life in the bone tissue. Treatment measures include evaluation by dental and oncological services, consideration for antibiotic therapy, and mainly a minimally to nonsurgical approach. In the absence of a definitive cure, the emphasis rests greatly on prevention.

Recurrent Arterial Thrombosis as a Presenting Feature of a Variant M3-Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia.

Acute limb ischemia (ALI) is a common vascular emergency. Hematologic malignancies are commonly associated with derangement of normal hemostasis and thrombo-hemorrhagic symptoms during the course of the disease are common. However, ALI as an initial presenting feature of acute leukemia is rare. Due to the rarity of this presentation, there is a scarcity of prospective randomized data to optimally guide the management of these patients. Current knowledge is mainly based on isolated cases. We report our experience managing a patient who presented with ALI and was found to have occult leukemia. A review of all cases with ALI as a presenting feature of acute leukemia is also presented.