A 55-year-old COVID-19-positive man managed with self-regulation of high-flow oxygen by high-velocity nasal insufflation therapy.

Management of critically ill coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients remains both risky and technically challenging. A 55-year-old male COVID-19-positive patient with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), diabetes, and obesity presented with cough and shortness of breath, escalating to requiring high-flow oxygen therapy by high-velocity nasal insufflation. The patient's flow rate and oxygen fraction remained labile throughout much of the hospitalization. This lability required frequent clinician interactions and use of personal protective equipment. The patient was alert and oriented and was instructed on the operation of the high-flow system, specifically the adjustment of both flow rate and oxygen percentage. The patient was instructed to modify oxygen to maintain an SpO2 (peripheral capillary oxygen saturation) target range, and flow rate to address dyspnoea as well as reduction of flow as tolerated when other staff entered the room. The patient was successfully self-regulated for 10 days and was discharged on 2 L/min nasal cannula on day 14 of his illness.

The forgotten electrolyte, when hypercalcaemia manifest as gait instability and altered mental status.

An altered mental status presents a diagnostic challenge for many clinicians. Described here is a case of primary hyperparathyroidism not initially suspected until after a thorough neurological and infectious cause were excluded. A 60-year-old woman presented with altered mental status and gait instability. Her family noticed progressive gait instability and mood swings for the past 4 months. Initial imaging and laboratory values were unable to explain her symptoms. On transfer out of the intensive care unit, her corrected calcium was found to be 13.3 mg/dL with an elevated parathyroid hormone. Her hypercalcaemia was refractory to medical management. Ultrasound found a 2 cm nodule, which was surgically removed and found to be a parathyroid adenoma. Her calcium normalised and neurological deficits subsided. Hypercalcaemia can lead to a constellation of symptoms that include the classical 'stones, bones, abdominal moans and psychic groans' and electrolyte derangements should be considered in the differential of altered mental status.

Late recurrent pulmonary typical carcinoid tumor: case report and review of the literature.

Carcinoid tumors are uncommon pulmonary neoplasms. They are classified histologically as either atypical or typical. Atypical carcinoids are aggressive malignancies that require radical surgical resection and have a guarded prognosis with a propensity to metastasize and recur. Typical carcinoids are low-grade malignancies with relatively less metastatic or recurring potential and are usually treated with simple excision. Recurrence of a typical pulmonary carcinoid tumor more than a decade after initial resection is very rare. A patient with recurrence of a typical carcinoid tumor 11 years after resection of the primary lesion with one involved lymph node is reported here. Late recurrences are rare in both atypical and typical varieties, but are much more common in atypical carcinoids. The patient reported here represents the fifth case of recurrence of a typical carcinoid tumor more than ten years after resection. This suggests that, after resection of a typical carcinoid neoplasm, patients should be monitored carefully, especially if lymph node metastases are present at the time of surgery.

Malignant ameloblastoma metastatic to the lungs 29 years after primary resection: a case report.

We describe a case of a 55-year-old man presenting with a metastatic malignant ameloblastoma 29 years after the primary tumor was resected. This represents the longest period between initial diagnosis and first subsequent metastasis recorded as a case report. This case illustrates distinctions between the terms metastatic and malignant; it also highlights the difficulties derived from the accumulation of data by new diagnostic modalities (electron beam CT and positron emission tomography) and their integration into assessment algorithms.