Intentional vomiting as a rare cause of hypercalcemia and consequent acute renal failure: a case report.

Two most common causes of elevated serum calcium levels, which together account for nearly 90% of all cases, are primary hyperparathyroidism and malignancy. Thus, it is necessary to consider other disorders in the diagnostic evaluation of patients with hypercalcemia. We report the case of a 40-year-old female patient with an intellectual disability who was admitted to the Emergency Department with severe symptomatic hypercalcemia and acute renal failure, caused by recurrent intentional vomiting. The aim of this report is to help clinicians make an accurate diagnosis by considering recurrent vomiting habits as a potential cause of hypercalcemia and acute renal failure. Our case provides a comprehensive diagnostic work-up and multidisciplinary treatment strategies for patients with symptomatic hypercalcemia.

On-admission serum uric acid predicts outcomes after acute myocardial infarction: systematic review and meta-analysis of prognostic studies.

AIM: To evaluate the prognostic value of serum uric acid (SUA) in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients. METHODS: Systematic review and random-effects meta-analysis of prognostic studies assessing AMI outcomes (death, major adverse cardiac events, MACE) in relation to on-admission SUA. RESULTS: Nine studies (7655 patients) were identified, 6 in the ST-segment elevation AMI patients treated with invasive revascularization and three in mixed AMI type cohorts with variable reperfusion strategies. "High" SUA (vs "low," different cut-offs) was univariately associated with higher short-term mortality (8 studies/6805 patients; odds ratio [OR], 3.24; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.47-4.27) and incidence of MACE (7/6467; OR, 2.46; 95% CI, 1.84-3.27, moderate heterogeneity, mild bias), and with higher medium-term mortality (5/5194; OR, 2.69; 95% CI, 2.00-3.62, moderate heterogeneity, mild bias) and MACE (4/4299; OR, 1.93; 95% CI, 1.36-2.74, high heterogeneity, mild bias). It was independently associated with a higher short-term (4/3625; OR, 2.26, 95% CI, 1.85-2.77) and medium/long-term (3/2683; hazard ratio [HR], 1.30; 95% CI 1.01-1.68, moderate heterogeneity, mild bias) occurrence of poor outcomes (death/MACE). As a continuous variable (by 50 µmol/L), higher SUA was also independently associated with poorer medium/long-term outcomes (4/3533; HR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.03-1.37, high heterogeneity, mild bias). All individual study effects (unadjusted or adjusted) were in the same direction, but differed in size. Heterogeneity was mainly due to the included AMI type and/or definition of MACE. All bias-corrected pooled effects remained significant. CONCLUSION: Based on the available data, high(er) on-admission SUA independently predicts worse short-term and medium/long-term outcomes after AMI. However, the number of data are modest and additional prospective studies are warranted.

Aortic dissection presenting as crossed hemiparesis.

INTRODUCTION: Aortic dissection is frequently associated with ischemic stroke; however, a high clinical suspicion is necessary when the presentation is atypical. CASE REPORT: We present the atypical clinical picture of De Bakey type I (Stanford A) aortic dissection which presented as crossed hemiparesis in a 52-year-old previously healthy woman. CONCLUSION: This case emphasizes the need for assessing pulsations of peripheral arteries on both arms and both legs in the context of acute stroke as this could lead to the diagnosis of acute aortic dissection.

Higher serum uric acid on admission is associated with higher short-term mortality and poorer long-term survival after myocardial infarction: retrospective prognostic study.

AIM: To assess serum uric acid (SUA) levels determined on admission as a potential predictor of short-term mortality and long-term survival in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients. METHOD: Data for this retrospective prognostic study were drawn from the patient database of the Varazdin County General Hospital in Varazdin, Croatia. We included consecutive patients with verified AMI admitted within 48 hours since the symptom onset during the period between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 2001. Long-term survival/mortality data were collected through direct contacts with patients and search of the community death registries. Relative risks (RR) and hazard ratios (HR) by 10 micromol/L increase in SUA were determined using modified Poisson regression with robust error variance and proportional hazard regression, respectively. RESULTS: A total of 621 patients (age 27-90 years, 64.7% men, 77.5% AMI with ST elevation, SUA 63-993 micromol/L) were included. Higher SUA on admission was independently associated with higher in-hospital mortality (RR, 1.016; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.001-1.031, P=0.043) and higher thirty-day mortality (RR, 1.016; 95% CI, 1.003-1.029, P=0.018). Considered covariates were demographics, pre-index event cardiovascular morbidity and treatment, on-admission serum creatinine, total cholesterol and triglycerides, AMI characteristics, and peak creatine phosphokinase. Higher SUA on admission was also independently associated with poorer long-term survival (ie, higher all-cause mortality) (HR, 1.105; 95% CI, 1.020-1.195, P=0.010). Considered covariates were demographics, laboratory variables on admission, AMI characteristics, peak creatine phosphokinase, acute complications, and treatment at discharge. CONCLUSION: Higher serum uric acid determined on admission is associated with higher in-hospital mortality and thirty-day mortality and poorer long-term survival after AMI.

Prostate specific antigen density can help avoid unnecessary prostate biopsies at prostate specific antigen range of 4-10 ng/ml.

Elevated level of prostatic specific antigen (PSA) is an established parameter to help determine the need to perform prostate biopsy. The aim of the present study was to determine whether PSA density (PSAD) could better predict pathologic finding of 12-core prostate biopsy in men with PSA 4-10 ng/mL than PSA alone. Transrectal ultrasound guided biopsy was performed in 125 men with PSA within this range. The rate of cancer detection was 24%. Study results showed a significant difference in PSAD between the two patient groups with negative and positive biopsy findings (P=0.002), while difference in the measured PSA levels was not significant (P=0.091). Study results suggested that PSAD could serve as an additional parameter in predicting negative outcome of prostate biopsy, with a cut-off value of 0.15 ng/mL/mL within PSA range of 4-10 ng/mL (sensitivity 86.7% and negative predictive value 91.5%).