Severe Hepatotoxicity due to Ibrutinib with a Review of Published Cases.

Ibrutinib, an irreversible Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is an effective treatment for Waldenström's macroglobulinemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and several other types of lymphoma. Studies prior to FDA approval in 2015 failed to demonstrate any hepatotoxicity. However, since then, there have been 2 reports in the literature of severe hepatic injury. We present a third case of a 77-year-old woman presenting with nausea and jaundice after recent discontinuation of ibrutinib and compare the presentation as well as course of all 3 known cases. The sudden onset of acute hepatotoxicity is idiosyncratic, occurring weeks after starting ibrutinib treatment. Liver biopsies in all cases revealed mixed hepatocellular and cholestatic features. Improvement progressed slowly upon discontinuation of ibrutinib. Awareness of ibrutinib hepatotoxicity, periodic surveillance of liver function tests, early recognition of any abnormalities, and prompt discontinuation of the medication are recommended.

Gastrointestinal endometriosis causing subacute intestinal obstruction with gradual development of weight loss and misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome.

Both endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are commonly found in young women and the diagnosis of either is challenging. Alarm symptoms can exclude the diagnosis of IBS, but their onset may be insidious and often no evidence of organic disease may be found. We present a patient with a 4-year history of presumed IBS, absent gynecological symptoms, negative gastrointestinal as well as gynecological testing who developed the only alarm symptom of weight loss and was eventually found to have endometriosis of the small intestine. This case illustrates the need for constant vigilance in patients with IBS.

Diverticulitis presenting as a tubo-ovarian abscess with subsequent colon perforation.

Described here is an unusual complication of a common condition; diverticulitis resulting in a tubo-ovarian abscess. The etiology of this abscess was clinically unapparent due to atypical presenting symptoms and signs. Furthermore, radiological diagnosis was misleading because of an inflammatory reaction of the colon which prevented visualization of diverticula. Failure to correctly identify the underlying pathology early in the patient's course of treatment led to a perforation of the colon.

Seizures in an Alzheimer's disease patient as a complication of colonoscopy premedication with meperidine.

We describe the first reported case of generalized tonic-clonic seizures induced by meperidine premedication for a colonoscopy procedure in a 63-year-old woman with Alzheimer's disease. The active metabolite of meperidine, normeperidine, is postulated to be the precipitating cause of the seizures, although a cholinesterase inhibitor and an N-methyl-D: -aspartate receptor antagonist, both routinely used for treatment of Alzheimer's disease, may have contributed by reducing the seizure threshold. The neuronal changes which occur in Alzheimer's disease can themselves also predispose to seizures. We recommend avoidance of meperidine for all flexible endoscopic procedures on patients with Alzheimer's disease and in any patient with a condition that predisposes to seizures, and suggest the use of alternative opioids.