A Rare Case of Catamenial Pneumothorax and a Review of the Current Literature.

A 34-year-old female smoker, with a history of pelvic endometriosis, presented with initial symptoms of shortness of breath and a choking sensation. She was found to have a right pneumothorax on chest x-ray. Over the next eight months, she ultimately underwent three tube thoracostomies, two video-assisted thoracoscopic surgeries (VATS), wedge resection, and repeated pleurodesis due to pneumothorax recurrence. She was seen multiple times post-surgically with the focus of treatment being smoking cessation rather than contraceptive therapy, despite an early follow-up visit noting that the initial symptoms coincided with her menstruation. The purpose of this article is to bring attention to this rarely diagnosed condition. With added awareness and understanding of the underlying causes and available treatments, medical providers could likely spare many women from similar experiences and dramatically improve the quality of their lives.

A Rare Case of Incidentally Diagnosed Pulmonary Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumour with Dramatic Response to Crizotinib in a Postpartum Woman.

Introduction: Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumours are rare neoplasms which most commonly affect children and young adults. With an intermediate malignant potential, they are typically detected in the abdomen, lung, mediastinum, head and neck, gastrointestinal tract, and genitourinary tract. Case description: We describe the case of a 33-year-old postpartum woman incidentally diagnosed with a pulmonary inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour following complaints of poorly controlled hypertension a week after caesarean section. She was ALK-negative and received an ALK inhibitor with complete resolution of the lesion. A ROS1-TFG fusion confirmed the diagnosis of an inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour after CT-guided fine needle aspiration. Discussion: This case highlights an uncommon presentation posing a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge and the potential treatment option of crizotinib. LEARNING POINTS: Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour (IMT) is a rarely reported neoplasm arising in the abdominal soft tissues, the lung, mediastinum, head, neck, gastrointestinal tract, and genitourinary tract, with intermediate malignant potential.IMT is definitively diagnosed only after histological examination following surgical biopsy, based on immunohistochemical markers and the molecular characteristics of the tumour, but small biopsies may have a role in a large lesion.IMT did not cause any complications during gestation.Therapeutic approaches include surgical resection and chemotherapy, including with crizotinib, an ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitor.

Baseline Knowledge Attitudes Satisfaction and Aspirations With Advance Care Planning: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Studies have consistently demonstrated low rates of adoption of Advance Care Planning in the community. METHODS: We studied Medicare enrollees age 65 and over and non-Medicare patients using a cross-sectional survey undertaken in February and March 2019 using questionnaires completed by out-patients attending a teaching hospital clinic in East Tennessee USA. We evaluated patient knowledge, attitudes, satisfaction and aspirations towards Advance Care Planning. RESULTS: 141 properly completed questionnaires were used. All Medicare enrollees were aware of Advanced Care Planning compared to 43% in the non-Medicare group. 70% of the Medicare enrollees and 94% of non-Medicare group were not ready to complete a written Advanced Care Plan. Of the respondents, 46% had appointed spouses, 24% adult children, 11% siblings, 10% parents, 3.6% friends and 1.2% aunts as their surrogate medical decision makers. 41% agreed that they were satisfied with their current advance care planning arrangements. This research identified that individual's knowledge, attitudes and aspirations influenced the adoption of Advance Care. CONCLUSIONS: Patients have adopted the Advance Care Plan concept but have modified it to reduce their concerns by using family and loved ones to convey their wishes instead of filling the required legal documents. Clinicians could improve this informal system and increase the observability of the treatment choices including the use of video and web-based tools.

Unnatural pregnancy deaths in Las Vegas: A descriptive study.

This study reports descriptive data assessing the prevalence of various risk factors and associations among pregnancy-related death by unnatural causes (PRUD), namely suicide, homicide and accidental causes in the city of Las Vegas. In 7215 women referred for autopsy, results showed PRUD 0.1% (n = 37) was more common in the Caucasian race 45.9% (n = 17), and ages 20-30 years 43.2% (n = 16). We also identified high prevalence of mental illness 51.3% (n = 19) and low prenatal care 37.8% (n = 14), particularly in our suicide cohort 100.0% (n = 13), and 15.3% (n = 2) respectively. Our study demonstrates the first investigation to identify the relationship between mental illness, particularly mood and substance disorders with pregnancy-related unnatural death.