Angioinvasive gastrointestinal mucormycosis with duodenal necrosis and perforation in a patient with visceral myopathy.

A 55-year-old woman with a past medical history of visceral myopathy with multiple resultant abdominal surgeries, colectomy caused by severe pseudo-obstruction, and end-stage renal disease on hemodialysis presented with complaints of nausea, abdominal distention, vomiting, and diarrhea for five days. Small-bowel obstruction was identified on CT. She subsequently developed acute gastrointestinal bleeding, anemia, and hemodynamic instability. Extensive gastric ulceration with frank hemorrhage prompted urgent subtotal gastrectomy with multiple intraoperative findings, including a necrotic distal duodenum. Surgical pathology showed invasive fungal infection of the duodenum with perforation, morphologically compatible with invasive mucormycosis. The patient was started on intravenous liposomal amphotericin B, but despite best efforts, the patient ultimately succumbed to this invasive fungal infection in addition to sepsis and multi-organ failure.

Ventricular fibrillation due to overdose of loperamide, the "poor man's methadone".

Loperamide is an over-the-counter antidiarrheal agent that is considered by many patients to be safe, but has been used as a drug of abuse due to its opioid properties. However, cardiotoxicity has been reported, prompting the FDA to release a warning regarding the arrhythmogenic potential of loperamide. We present a case of a 38-year-old female presenting with cardiac arrest thought to be secondary to abuse of the loperamide that she was using to alleviate the heroin withdrawal symptoms. Cardiac ischemia and other drug toxicities were ruled out. Loperamide induces QTc prolongation and cardiac dysrhythmias. She had recurrent ventricular arrhythmias with multiple cardiac arrests. The persistence of the cardiotoxicity for a longer duration than previously reported in the literature is unique in this clinical presentation. We also highlight the potential mechanisms for loperamide cardiotoxicity and its challenging management. Abbreviations: ACLS: Advanced cardiac life support; GI: Gastrointestinal.

Thirty years of HIV in Israel: current epidemiology and future challenges.

OBJECTIVE: The HIV/AIDS burden in Israel is increasing. This study aims to describe the nationwide-HIV epidemiology in the last 30 years and highlight areas of concern in HIV/AIDS control. DESIGN: Descriptive study. SETTING: The National HIV/AIDS Registry in Israel. PARTICIPANTS: All individuals who were reported with HIV/AIDS in Israel. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Classification of HIV/AIDS cases by risk groups, calculation of annual trend analysis and estimation of HIV transmission rates by dividing the annual HIV/AIDS-incidence by the prevalence, while the number of newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS cases reported was a proxy of the incidence. RESULTS: From 1981 to 2010, 6579 HIV/AIDS cases were reported in an upward trend from 3.6 new HIV diagnoses/100 000 population in 1986 to 5.6 in 2010. Immigrants from countries of generalised epidemic (ICGE) comprised 2717 (41.3%) of all cases: 2089 (76.9%) were Israeli citizens and 628 (23%) were non-Israeli citizens, mostly migrant workers. The majority (N=2040) of ICGE Israeli citizens were born in Ethiopia. Only 796 (12.1%) of all HIV/AIDS cases were heterosexuals who were non-ICGE and not injecting drug users (IDUs). IDU comprised 13.4% (N=882) of all cases. Men who have sex with men (MSM) accounted for 33.2% (N=1403) of all men reported, while the annual number of MSM reported with HIV/AIDS has quadrupled between 2000 and 2010. It is estimated that the HIV point prevalences in 2010 for Ethiopian-born Israeli citizens, IDU and MSM aged 16-45 were 1805, 1492 and 3150, respectively. The crude estimated transmission rates among Israeli citizens, excluding the Ethiopian-born, was 10.5, while among Ethiopian-born Israeli citizens, IDU and MSM the rates were 3.6, 6.3 and 13.2, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The HIV/AIDS burden in Israel is low among heterosexuals and higher in risk-groups. Among these risk groups, the highest HIV transmission rate was in MSM, followed by IDU and ICGE. Culturally sensitive and focused prevention interventions should be tailored exclusively for each of the vulnerable risk groups.

Subcutaneous treprostinil is well tolerated with infrequent site changes and analgesics.

Abstract Continuous prostanoid infusions are recommended for patients with advanced pulmonary arterial hypertension. Infusion site pain has discouraged some physicians from considering subcutaneous (SQ) treprostinil therapy even though it has safety and convenience advantages over intravenous epoprostenol. We conducted a 1-year prospective study of patients utilizing SQ treprostinil. We provided counseling on infrequent site changes and a written analgesic protocol including narcotics. After placement of a new site, subjects recorded daily pain scores and analgesic use. Twenty-six of 29 patients consented, including 4 patients who had recently started therapy. They returned 203 diaries, and we captured every site change in a diary. Sixteen subjects returned 8 or fewer diaries during 12 months, and 20% of diaries documented only mild discomfort. The majority of diaries documented brief periods of severe pain, but this had generally abated by day 7. Contrary to published guidelines, infusion site pain was independent of treprostinil dose in a rigorous analysis. There were 3 significant local reactions but no systemic illness. No subject discontinued SQ treprostinil because of site discomfort. Subjects reported satisfaction with their treatment using a validated assessment, and quality-of-life scores were favorable. A strategy emphasizing infrequent site changes and early analgesia can facilitate use of SQ treprostinil. These data may allow physicians to consider treprostinil earlier in the treatment algorithm for this fatal disease.