Hepatosplenic Cat Scratch Disease: Description of Two Cases Undergoing Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound for Diagnosis and Follow-Up and Systematic Literature Review.

Cat scratch disease (CSD) is a disease usually characterized by self-limited lymphadenopathy of the young man. Rarely CSD, however, can manifest itself as an unusual hepatosplenic form (HS-CSD) in immunocompetent patients. HS-CSD diagnosis is generally based on clinical features, imaging, and serologies, but sensitivity of serologies is very variable, like that of other diagnostic methods, as Warthin-Starry silver stain and isthology. Also there are no specific markers for the follow-up. The use of the CEUS (abdominal contrast-enhanced ultrasound) in HS-CSD is not previously described in literature examined, but we think that CEUS can be of help to diagnosis and follow-up of these patients, even after an initial CT scan, because it is a sensitive method, as seen in other diseases associated with granulomas, such as sarcoidosis. We describe 2 new cases of HS-CSD, and we performed a systematic review of the clinical cases reported in the past 10 years in the literature associated to an analysis of clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic aspects of the disease.

Acute cardiovascular events in patients with community acquired pneumonia: results from the observational prospective FADOI-ICECAP study.

BACKGROUND: The burden of cardiovascular (CV) complications in patients hospitalised for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is still uncertain. Available studies used different designs and different criteria to define CV complications. We assessed the cumulative incidence of acute of CV complications during hospitalisation for CAP in Internal Medicine Units (IMUs). METHODS: This was a prospective study carried out in 26 IMUs, enrolling patients consecutively hospitalised for CAP. Defined CV complications were: newly diagnosed heart failure, acute coronary syndrome, new onset of supraventricular or ventricular arrhythmias, new onset hemorrhagic or ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack. Outcome measures were: in-hospital and 30-day mortality, length of hospital stay and rate of 30-day re-hospitalisation. RESULTS: A total of 1266 patients were enrolled, of these 23.8% experienced at least a CV event, the majority (15.5%) represented by newly diagnosed decompensated heart failure, and 75% occurring within 3 days. Female gender, a history of CV disease, and more severe pneumonia were predictors of CV events. In-hospital (12.2% vs 4.7%, p < 0.0001) and 30-day (16.3% vs 8.9%, p = 0.0001) mortality was higher in patients with CV events, as well as the re-hospitalisation rate (13.3% vs 9.3%, p = 0.002), and mean hospital stay was 11.4 ± 6.9 vs 9.5 ± 5.6 days (p < 0.0001). The occurrence of CV events during hospitalisation significantly increased the risk of 30-day mortality (HR 1.69, 95% CI 1.14-2.51; p = 0.009). CONCLUSION: Cardiovascular events are frequent in CAP, and their occurrence adversely affects outcome. A strict monitoring might be useful to intercept in-hospital CV complications for those patients with higher risk profile. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT03798457 Registered 10 January 2019 - Retrospectively registered.

[Celiac disease with epilepsy and minor neurological disorders]. / Malattia celiaca associata ad epilessia ed a disturbi neurologici minori.

We present the case of a woman with abdominal pain, headache, syncope. The diagnosis of celiac disease (CD), associated with epilepsy and the brief review of literature, suggest that CD should be considered in neurological disorders of unknown etiology. The diet can be effective only on abdominal pain.

A case of pulmonary sarcoidosis preceding polycythemia vera with literature review.

For several years is described a non-random association between sarcoidosis and solid or hematological tumors. We present a case in which a patient with pulmonary sarcoidosis developed polycythemia vera few months later. A review of literature shows that sarcoidosis precedes neoplasms and tends to be a chronic active variety. Our case, by contrast, has been responsive to steroid therapy.

Uncommon localization of amyloidosis in gallbladder: description of a case and brief literature review.

Amyloidosis is a rare disease that is caused by extracellular deposits of amorphous, insoluble fibrillar protein, which often occur in the kidneys, the heart, the nervous system, the digestive tract, especially the hepatosplenic and intestinal tract, and can be present in bone marrow, though unusual in the gallbladder. The interest of this case lies in the rarity of amyloidosis localisation and in the uncommon clinical presentation as acute cholecystitis. We have reviewed cases of amyloidosis with gallbladder involvement in literature and briefly discussed the predictive value of the main histological diagnostic methods.

[An unusual complication of hepatocellular carcinoma: the pleuro-biliary fistula]. / Un'inusuale complicanza di epatocarcinoma: la fistola pleurobiliare.

A patient with hepatocellular carcinoma had fever, cough, dyspnea. The analysis and the transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) showed leucocytosis, cholestasis and pleural viscous fluid with bilirubin. The patient was stabilized and two chest tube were placed. Abdomen CT demonstrated dilated bile duct and pleuro-biliary fistula: dilated bile duct, necrosis and portal thrombus were predictive for TACE-induced pleuro-biliary fistula.

[The diagnostic admission in an internal medicine service: clinical and economic aspects]. / Il ricovero diagnostico in medicina interna: efficacia clinica, impatto economico, criticità.

Efficacy and costs of the diagnostic process have been under extensive investigation for a long time. In this study we present a detailed, retrospective analysis of the clinical and economic aspects of 347 diagnostic admissions in a teaching hospital. We have, furthermore, investigated the clinical history of a group of 50 patients, from the beginning up to one year after definitive diagnosis, through a structured questionnaire. The results shed some light onto efficacy, cost-effectiveness and cost-profit balance of diagnostic admissions. Strategies to improve efficacy and cost-effectiveness are discussed.