Methaemoglobinaemia: a rare cause of chest pain, hypoxia and cyanosis.

A man in his 20s presented with severe left-sided chest pain, shortness of breath and acute confusion. Initial examination revealed central cyanosis, normal heart sounds, vesicular breath sounds in both lung fields and a bruised right calf. The patient reported that he had recently injured his right leg and that he had not taken medication prescribed for blood clots for several days. Peripheral oxygen saturations were 85% despite high flow oxygen via a non-rebreather mask. ECG revealed sinus tachycardia. Arterial blood gas sampling confirmed hypoxaemia. Given the history and the severe hypoxia, he was managed for pulmonary embolism initially.Closer inspection of his arterial blood results showed a methaemoglobin percentage of 20.4%. He was given intravenous methylene blue which resulted in resolution of his symptoms within 30 min. He subsequently confirmed that he was undergoing genetic testing for likely congenital methaemoglobinaemia.

Agitation Following Severe Traumatic Brain Injury Is a Clinical Sign of Recovery of Consciousness.

Objective: Severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) often results in disorders of consciousness. Patients emerging from coma frequently exhibit aberrant behaviors such as agitation. These non-purposeful combative behaviors can interfere with medical care. Interestingly, agitation is associated with arousal and is often among the first signs of neurological recovery. A better understanding of these behaviors may shed light on the mechanisms driving the return of consciousness in sTBI patients. This study aims to investigate the association between posttraumatic agitation and the recovery of consciousness. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted in 530 adult patients (29.1% female) admitted to Stony Brook University Hospital between January 2011 and December 2019 with a diagnosis of sTBI and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) ≤8. Agitation was defined as a Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale (RASS) > +1, or any documentation of equivalently combative and violent behaviors in daily clinical notes. The ability to follow verbal commands was used to define the recovery of consciousness and was assessed daily. Results: Of 530 total sTBI patients, 308 (58.1%) survived. Agitation was present in 169 of all patients and 162 (52.6%) of surviving patients. A total of 273 patients followed commands, and 159 of them developed agitation. Forty patients developed agitation on hospital arrival whereas 119 developed agitation later during their hospital course. Presence of in-hospital agitation positively correlated with command-following (r = 0.315, p < 0.001). The time to develop agitation and time to follow commands showed positive correlation (r = 0.485, p < 0.001). These two events occurred within 3 days in 54 (44.6%) patients, within 7 days in 81 (67.8%) patients, and within 14 days in 96 (80.2%) patients. In 71 (59.7%) patients, agitation developed before command-following; in 36 (30.2%) patients, agitation developed after command-following; in 12 (10.1%) patients, agitation developed on the same day as command-following. Conclusion: Posttraumatic agitation in comatose patients following sTBI is temporally associated with the recovery of consciousness. This behavior indicates the potential for recovery of higher neurological functioning. Further studies are required to identify neural correlates of posttraumatic agitation and recovery of consciousness after sTBI.

Feasibility and reliability of a web-based smartphone application for joint position measurement.

OBJECTIVE: Measurement of joint angles is usually performed using a simple goniometer, which can often be time-consuming and inaccurate, however smartphones can measure angles, this technology could be used to measure joint position. Studies of smartphone applications for this purpose lack consistency and homogeneity. The aim of the current study is to analyse the reliability and accuracy of 3 inertial motion unit-based smartphone applications for goniometric measurement, using 3 different industry standards as external controls. METHODS: In the first 2 phases of the study, measurements of angles between 90° and 165° (simulating knee extension) using 3 smartphone applications were analysed against the 3 industry standards. In the third phase, the smartphone's raw data was individually analysed against a digital inclinometer across the x, y and z axes. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Results from the 3 phases of this study indicate a high degree of reliability and validity of the applications compared with the industry standards, with no clinically significant deviations. Thus, this technology could be used in a clinical setting. However, further clinical research, focussing on joint motions with greater than a single degree of freedom, is required before the use of such applications for joint position measurement in clinical practice.

Synchronous Kimura lesions at two different sites-a diagnostic dilemma!

Kimura disease (KD) is a rare, chronic, benign inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology mimicking neoplastic disease and is characterized by multiple subcutaneous nodules and masses, primarily in the cervical region, accompanied by peripheral eosinophilia and lymphadenopathy. A 35-year-old male presented with a 2-year history of swelling in the right preauricular region and right thigh. Investigations showed a peripheral eosinophilia. CT of cervical region revealed parotid neoplasm and a fine needle aspiration was inconclusive. The thigh swelling felt vascular and a CT angiogram was done which revealed a diffuse vascular lesion. A superficial parotidectomy and an excision of the right thigh swelling were done. Histopathologies of both specimens were reported to have features suggestive of KD. The patient was evaluated for systemic manifestations and found to have no abnormalities. The patient has been disease free on follow-up after 2 years. This case is being presented for the rarity of its incidence and the nature of its presentation.

Small bowel carcinoid: a rare cause of bowel obstruction.

Carcinoid tumours though commonly affect the appendix, are a rare cause of small bowel obstruction, causing a diagnostic dilemma. We presented a 70-year-old man with small bowel obstruction, not responding to conservative management, which required an emergency laparotomy and was found to have a mass encasing the mid-jejunal loops and mesentery that was resected and reported to be a carcinoid tumour.