A rare endoscopic appearance of granulomatosis with polyangiitis involving the intestine: a case report.

BACKGROUND: The involvement of granulomatosis with polyangiitis is less frequent in the intestine. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a case of Wegener's granulomatosis with unusual endoscopic appearance, involvement in a young man's gastrointestinal tract. A 45-year-old man was diagnosed with Wegener's granulomatosis 11 years ago, and relapsed with abdominal pain and melena. A colonoscopy was performed, and the appearance of mucosal lesions with an unusual annular black membrane was observed. A black ring-shaped membranous tissue adhered to the surface of the colon wall, which could be traversed by an endoscopic forepart. CONCLUSION: Biopsy of the black membrane revealed degenerative colonic mucosal tissues, while deep colonic biopsy revealed inflammatory granulation tissues. This has not been reported in previous documents.

Changes in ischemia-modified albumin in myocardial toxicity induced by anthracycline and docetaxel chemotherapy.

This study aims to evaluate differences in myocardial toxicity induced by different chemotherapy regimens. Patients were divided into 2 groups: epirubicin (EPI) combined with cyclophosphamide (EC) group and docetaxel combined with cyclophosphamide (TC) group. Changes in electrocardiograph (ECG) and ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) were determined pre- and 1, 3, and 6 courses of postchemotherapy. After the first course of chemotherapy, there was no significant difference in ECG and abnormal IMA incidence rates between the TC groups and EC groups (P > .05). After the third course and at the end of the sixth course, ECG and abnormal IMA incidence rates in the EC group were significantly higher than in the TC group (P < .05). Besides, IMA values significantly increased with the increase in chemotherapy courses in the EC group; and the value of the postsixth course was significantly higher than in the pre- and postfirst and -third courses of chemotherapy. IMA value in the postsixth course in the TC group was significantly higher than that in the pre- and postfirst and -third courses of chemotherapy. In addition, IMA values at the postfirst and -third courses of chemotherapy in the EC group were significantly higher than in the TC group. Both EC and TC chemotherapy regimens were harmful to the myocardium, and the incidence rate of myocardial damage increased with the increase of cumulative dose. Besides, the degree of myocardial damage in EC group was significantly higher than in the TC group.