Acute respiratory failure as initial manifestation of conventional osteosarcoma rich in giant cells: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Osteosarcoma is a malignant tumor of the bone. The giant cell-rich osteosarcoma (GCRO) is a rare histological variant of the conventional osteosarcoma, accounting for 3% of all osteosarcomas. It has a variable clinical presentation, ranging from asymptomatic to multiple pathological fractures, mainly involving long bones, and less frequently the axial skeleton and soft tissues. CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a 25-year-old Hispanic woman, previously healthy, with a 1-month history of dyspnea on exertion, intermittent dry cough, hyporexia, and intermittent unquantified fever. She presented to the emergency department with a sudden increase in dyspnea during which she quickly entered ventilatory failure and cardiorespiratory arrest with pulseless electrical activity. Resuscitation maneuvers and orotracheal intubation were initiated, but effective ventilation was not achieved despite intubation and she was transferred to the intensive care unit of our institution. The chest radiograph showed a mediastinal mass that occluded and displaced the airway. The chest tomography showed a large mediastinal mass that involved the pleura and vertebral bodies. A thoracoscopic biopsy was performed that documented a conventional giant cell-rich osteosarcoma. The patient was considered to be inoperable due to the size and extent of the tumor and subsequently died. CONCLUSIONS: The giant cell-rich osteosarcoma is a very rare histological variant of conventional osteosarcoma. Few cases of this type of osteosarcoma originating from the spine have been reported in the literature, and to our knowledge none of the reported cases included invasion to the chest cavity with airway compression and fatal acute respiratory failure that was present our case. Radiological and histological features of the GCRO must be taken into account to make a prompt diagnosis.

Characterization of 95 patients with traumatic brain injury due to gunshot wounds at a referral center in Cali, Colombia. / Caracterización de 95 pacientes adultos con trauma craneoencefálico debido a herida por proyectil de arma de fuego en un centro de referencia en Cali, Colombia.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to describe cases of traumatic brain injury due to gunshot wounds in civilian population over 18 years of age, treated at a referral hospital in Cali, Colombia and compare the clinical outcomes at discharge. METHODS: An observational, descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted by retrospectively collecting clinical data related to adult patients that presented traumatic brain injury due to civil gunshot-wounds and that consulted to the emergency room at Fundación Valle del Lili Hospital in Cali, Colombia between January 2010 and February of 2016. A univariate analysis was performed to determine factors associated with death and adverse clinical outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 95 patients older than 18 years, with traumatic brain injury by gunshot were included in the civil context. The 91.6% were male. The main context was interpersonal violence with 54.7%. The most common method of transportation was by ambulance (79%). The Glasgow score at admission was 3-8 in 64.2% of cases; 9-12 in 6.32% and 13-15 in 28.4%. On admission, head CT scan was performed in 82 (86.3%) patients within the first hour, finding a Marshall-Score between I-III in 60.9%, of IV in 17.8% of cases and a score between V-VI and in 4.1%. The trajectory was non-transfixing penetrating in 43.2%, transfixing in 27.3% and tangential in 9.5%. Mortality was 45.3% in total, 39% died within the first 24hours. CONCLUSIONS: A major compromise on admission determines an overall poorer prognosis and a high likelihood of death in the first 24-hours.