Life threatening, subclavian artery mycotic aneurysm rupture into a gigantic supraclavicular abscess in an intravenous drug user.

Subclavian artery injuries are sporadic, and the most common aetiology is trauma. Self-injury of the vessel in those misusing intravenous drugs is a rare complication, as most reports describe injury to the femoral artery. Thus, erosion and potential rupture of the arterial wall is possible due infection and phlegmon or abscess formation. We present a case of a young, female, hemodynamically unstable intravenous drug user admitted to the emergency department with a life-threatening, purulent haemorrhagic mass located at her right lateral cervical region. The patient admitted an inadvertent arterial puncture 10 days prior and an effort to self-manage the bleeding with the application of self-pressure and antibiotics. Computed tomography arteriogram of the neck revealed a gigantic, multicompartment, thick-walled collection with hyperdense fluid in her right supraclavicular region while active extravasation derived from the right subclavian artery was evident in late arterial phase. The patient was treated with endovascular graft stenting, despite the given presence of infection, as a salvage operation due to time limitation in open surgical repair.

Image of the month: Abdominal aorta aneurysm rupture in the peritoneal cavity with a two-point aortocaval fistula formation.

Abdominal aorta aneurysm rupture is a potential lethal complication and is surgical emergency. In addition, formation of a portal vein and abdominal aorta fistula is a possible, very rare complication that enforces complicated surgical management. Multidetector computed tomography with bolus injection tracking and multiplanar reconstruction is the modality of choice in revealing an aortic rupture and its potential complications.

Atherosclerosis and Inflammatory Bowel Disease-Shared Pathogenesis and Implications for Treatment.

Atherosclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are often regarded as 2 distinct entities. The commonest manifestation of atherosclerosis is ischemic heart disease (IHD), and an association between IHD and IBD has been reported. Atherosclerosis and IBD share common pathophysiological mechanisms in terms of their genetics, immunology, and contributing environmental factors. Factors associated with atherosclerosis are implicated in the development of IBD and vice versa. Therefore, treatments targeting the common pathophysiology pathways may be effective in both conditions. The current review considers the pathophysiological pathways that are shared between the 2 conditions and discusses the implications for treatment and research.

Pancreatic arteriovenous malformation mimicking pancreatic neoplasm: a systematic multimodality diagnostic approach and treatment.

Pancreatic arteriovenous malformation (pAVM) is a very rare entity, as less than 100 cases are reported in the international literature. Patients with pAVM may be asymptomatic or may present a wide range of symptoms, such as vague pain, feeling of fullness, gastrointestinal bleeding, or even portal hypertension. We present the multimodality approach in the diagnosis of a patient with pAVM and treatment via transcatheter arterial embolization of the lesion using steel coils. The patient was free of symptoms 12 months later.

A rare case report of a primary large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast with coexisting Paget disease.

Neuroendocrine carcinomas are malignancies deriving from neuroendocrine cells existing in various sites of the body, most commonly in the lungs and gastrointestinal tract. Primary neuroendocrine carcinomas of the breast are extremely rare, and their diagnosis is confirmed by positive neuroendocrine markers. We describe a case of a 46-year-old woman with a palpable mass in her left breast for the previous 3 months. The tumor was resected and a primary large-cell neuroendocrine tumor of the breast was confirmed by histopathologic examination. Paget disease of the nipple was noted as well.