The Journal of the Louisiana State Medical Society : official organ of the Louisiana State Medical Society最新文献

An obese 49-year-old man with a history of systemic arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, three myocardial infarcts, an ischemic cardiomyopathy, a four-vessel coronary artery bypass operation 7 years earlier, and implantation of a cardioverter-defibrillator 2 years earlier comes to the hospital with palpitations and dyspnea. An ECG is recorded.

Severe acute pancreatitis has two predominant phases. The first, "early" phase (1-2 weeks) is characterized by a severe pro-inflammatory state and is best ameliorated with conservative management. The second, "late" phase is a more complex immune-compromised state, during which pancreatic fluid collections become demarcated and walled-off. During this phase, patients are at an increased risk of infection and necrosis secondary to break in the gut barrier. Therefore, treatment becomes more complicated. Though open surgical necrosectomy has historically been the treatment of choice for infected pancreatic necrosis, it carries a mortality rate up to 40 percent, likely due to additional physiologic stress in an already pro-inflammatory state. A growing body of evidence suggests that primary minimally invasive approaches, including endoscopy, can be used with equivalent or increased efficacy and lower morbidity and mortality rates than the traditional methods.

A 67-year old man presented with a painful left foot and a putrid odor. His past medical history was significant for poorly controlled diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, and peripheral vascular disease. His surgical history included a prior right below-knee amputation for a diabetic foot infection three years prior, and a left third toe amputation for osteomyelitis one month ago. He was an active smoker. His laboratory data revealed a white blood count of 22 k/uL and a blood glucose of 381 mg/dL. Physical exam demonstrated an erythematous and edematous left foot with subcutaneous crepitus along the plantar surface. Plain film x-rays of the left foot demonstrated gas pockets in the soft tissue and acute osteomyelitis (Figure 1). The patient was diagnosed with gas gangrene and was taken emergently to the operating room. In order to obtain source control of this life threatening infection, a left below-knee amputation was performed and broad spectrum empiric antibiotics were initiated immediately with vancomycin and piperacillin/tazobactam. Cultures were not obtained at the time of surgery and the organisms causing this infection are unknown. The patient survived and was discharged to a rehabilitation facility.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease affecting multiple organ systems. Although myocardial involvement and overt myocarditis is rare, life-threatening myocarditis associated with SLE can happen. We report a case of myocarditis associated with SLE with subsequent improvement of cardiac function after immunosuppressive therapy.

Primary Hodgkin's lymphoma of the colon is a rare phenomenon previously only reported in patients with chronic diverticulitis or inflammatory bowel disease. Herein we report a case of primary Hodgkin's lymphoma of the sigmoid colon in an HIV-positive patient without a history of inflammatory bowel disease or chronic diverticulitis that was later complicated by the discovery of concurrent papillary thyroid carcinoma.

A 48-year-old man residing in a mental health department inpatient program with a history of schizoaffective disorder presented to the emergency department with a chief complaint of fever and intense abdominal pain for one day. The patient stated he initially fell in the shower and afterwards experienced back pain. He was transferred to an acute care unit within the facility for further evaluation. The facility physician noted that the patient had a mild temperature elevation and abdominal rigidity on exam. At that time, he was given two doses of benztropine intramuscularly, and transferred to our hospital for further evaluation. The patient exhibited fever, diffuse abdominal pain and a nonproductive cough, but denied chills, dysuria, urinary frequency, hematuria, weakness, diarrhea, melena or hematochezia. He did have a one-week history of constipation for which he was given sodium phosphate enemas, magnesium citrate and docusate sodium, eventually resulting in a bowel movement. He also complained of new onset dysphagia. There were no recent changes to his medications, which included clonazepam, divalproex sodium extended release, olanzapine and risperidone. He denied use of tobacco, alcohol or illicit drugs.

A 69 year-old man presented to his primary care physician with abdominal discomfort. Medical history was notable for diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with recent (one week prior) steroid use and hypertension. Surgical history was significant for a remote sigmoid hemicolectomy for diverticulitis with a synthetic mesh abdominal repair. He was admitted to the hospital for suspected gastroparesis. An upper GI series showed a distended stomach with delayed gastric motility. He underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy and a duodenal biopsy was taken. He remained afebrile but had an elevated white blood cell count of 19.1 x 103/mcL (4.5 - 11.0 x 103/mcL) with 28.8 percent eosinophils on differential. Microscopic images of the duodenal biopsy are shown below.

A 42-year-old man with diabetes and hypertension presented to the emergency room after experiencing a several month history of gradually increasing abdominal girth with the sudden onset of abdominal pain.

Gnathostomiasis is a foodborne zoonotic helminthic infection, commonly described in Asia and Latin America, which may follow the consumption of raw fish, eels, amphibians, and reptiles infected with muscle-encysted larvae of Gnathostoma species nematodes. After an inoculum of as little as one infective larva and an incubation period of months to years, most infections are characterized by intermittent migratory swellings due to subdermal larval migration. Less commonly, larval migration to the central nervous system may result in radiculomyelopathy or eosinophilic meningoencephalitis with high fatality rates; or larval migration to the eye with resulting blindness in untreated cases. Since the US now supports a zoonosis of Gnathostoma species with infective larvae encysted in imported and domestic fish and eels that may be consumed raw as exotic ethnic dishes, the objectives of this review were to describe the biology and life cycle of Gnathostoma nematodes and the behavioral risk factors for gnathostomiasis; and to describe the clinical manifestations, diagnosis, management, and prevention of human gnathostomiasis. Since the eradication of gnathostomiasis is very unlikely given the global distribution of Gnathostoma nematodes and the increasingly exotic culinary tastes of US residents and travelers to endemic regions, the only effective strategies for gnathostomiasis include: (1) educating citizens in the US and travelers abroad in endemic areas that fish, eels, frogs, snakes, and chicken must be cooked thoroughly first and not eaten raw or marinated; and (2) seeking medical care immediately for evaluation of migratory subcutaneous swellings. The combination of international travel and increased immigration from Asia and Latin America to the US has resulted in greater popularity of exotic ethnic cuisine, especially raw seafood dishes. The ethnic cuisine industry is supported by domestic aquaculture that produces fish-farmed tilapia and trout, and by increased importation of live freshwater species, such as Asian swamp eels (Monopterus spp.).1 Although raw seafood dishes are typically prepared with saltwater species, freshwater species, which harbor more parasites, are also used in these dishes, such as limejuice marinated tilapia or trout ceviche and eel-sashimi and sushi.2 In 2014, biologists from the US Geological Survey detected Gnathostoma species infective-stage larvae in nearly 30 percent of imported Monopterus species Asian swamp eels and in 4.5 percent of locally-caught Monopterus species freshwater swamp eels in three states.1 The investigators concluded that consumption of imported swamp eels from Gnathostoma-endemic regions of Asia could transmit gnathostomiasis to humans in the US.1 In addition, the release of live imported swamp eels or the disposal of their offal after filleting has introduced more Gnathostoma larvae into open and fish-farmed freshwaters infecting more native species.1 Since the US has all of the components t

Coarctation of the aorta, virtually always a congenital malformation, is characterized by localized aortic narrowing, usually in the arch opposite to the ductus arteriosus and just distal to the left subclavian artery. The condition occasionally goes undiagnosed until adulthood. We report a case of a 55-year-old man who presented with uncontrolled hypertension, pulmonary edema, and non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction due to multi-vessel coronary artery disease. He underwent successful simultaneous coronary artery bypass grafting and coarctation repair using an ascending-to-descending aortic bypass graft.