Eosinophilic myocarditis during treatment of acute myeloid leukaemia: cardiac magnetic resonance in the very early phase mimicking triple-vessel coronary artery disease: a case report.

Background: Chemotherapy of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) can cause a broad spectrum of cardiotoxic effects. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is key for the diagnosis of eosinophilic myocarditis (EM) defined by the presence of sub-endocardial necrosis and fibrosis. This case report describes the picture of severe triple-vessel ischaemia due to infiltration of eosinophilia without atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD). Case summary: A 57-year-old woman was diagnosed with AML requiring chemotherapy. Three days after initiation of chemotherapy, the patient presented with chest pain and new left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and hyper-eosinophilia. A CMR examination initially was compatible with severe triple-vessel ischaemia. Tissue characterization by CMR was not done due to severe dyspnoea promoting the differential diagnosis of triple-vessel CAD or chemotherapy-induced triple-vessel coronary spasm. However, invasive coronary angiography excluded obstructive CAD. Severe LV dysfunction and troponin elevation persisted arguing against coronary vasospasm. Chemotherapy induced a massive increase in blood eosinophils, and EM was considered as most likely diagnosis. Immunosuppressive treatment improved the patient's status and a CMR later on confirmed the diagnosis of EM. Discussion: Chemotherapy-induced massive eosinophilia can cause widespread coronary micro-vascular infiltration mimicking severe triple-vessel CAD. Early CMR did not evaluate tissue composition, and EM was not considered which delayed adequate treatment. A complete CMR assessment is key to establish the correct diagnosis.

Blinatumomab in Relapsed/Refractory Burkitt Lymphoma.

In patients with relapsed/refractory Burkitt lymphoma (r/r BL), overall survival (OS) is poor, and effective therapies and evidence for the best therapy are lacking. The monoclonal antibody blinatumomab may represent a novel option. However, only limited data on the use of blinatumomab in r/r BL are so far available. This multi-center, retrospective case series investigated nine patients with r/r BL treated with blinatumomab. The safety of blinatumomab was assessed with respect to frequency and severity of adverse effects (AEs) infections, cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and neurotoxicity. Progression-free survival (PFS), OS and overall response rate (ORR) were analyzed to assess efficacy. No AEs > grade 2 occurred, and AEs were generally treatable and fully reversible. The best response to blinatumomab was complete remission in 3/9 patients and partial remission in 2/9, whilst 4/9 presented with progressive disease. Median PFS and OS were 2 and 6 months, respectively, ranging from 5 days to 32 months and 11 days to 32 months, respectively. Blinatumomab treatment was a successful bridging treatment to stem cell transplantation in 3/9 patients. The response to blinatumomab varied widely, and only one patient survived longer term, but activity in patients with r/r BL was evident in some patients, with its use being safe, warranting its prospective investigation.

Case Report: Stepwise Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Effects Following Convalescent Plasma Therapy With Full Clinical Recovery.

In these times of COVID-19 pandemic, concern has been raised about the potential effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on immunocompromised patients, particularly on those receiving B-cell depleting agents and having therefore a severely depressed humoral response. Convalescent plasma can be a therapeutic option for these patients. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of convalescent plasma is crucial to optimize such therapeutic approach. Here, we describe a COVID-19 patient who was deeply immunosuppressed following rituximab (anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody) and concomitant chemotherapy for chronic lymphoid leukemia. His long-term severe T and B cell lymphopenia allowed to evaluate the treatment effects of convalescent plasma. Therapeutic outcome was monitored at the clinical, biological and radiological level. Moreover, anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody titers (IgM, IgG and IgA) and neutralizing activity were assessed over time before and after plasma transfusions, alongside to SARS-CoV-2 RNA quantification and virus isolation from the upper respiratory tract. Already after the first cycle of plasma transfusion, the patient experienced rapid improvement of pneumonia, inflammation and blood cell counts, which may be related to the immunomodulatory properties of plasma. Subsequently, the cumulative increase in anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies due to the three additional plasma transfusions was associated with progressive and finally complete viral clearance, resulting in full clinical recovery. In this case-report, administration of convalescent plasma revealed a stepwise effect with an initial and rapid anti-inflammatory activity followed by the progressive SARS-CoV-2 clearance. These data have potential implications for a more extended use of convalescent plasma and future monoclonal antibodies in the treatment of immunosuppressed COVID-19 patients.

Pharmacokinetics of lenalidomide during high cut-off dialysis in a patient with multiple myeloma and renal failure.

INTRODUCTION: High cut-off dialysis, increasingly used in multiple myeloma patients, is susceptible to influence anticancer drug elimination. We report about lenalidomide disposition in a patient on high cut-off dialysis for renal failure secondary to myeloma cast nephropathy. METHODS: The patient received a higher dosage of lenalidomide (5 mg b.i.d.), owing to concerns about a potential decrease in lenalidomide exposure during dialysis sessions. A set of blood samples was taken in order to develop a pharmacokinetic model accounting for lenalidomide concentrations in this setting. RESULTS: According to our model, the area under the curve was 3273 µg h/L, i.e., 60% higher than expected under usual dosage (25 mg q.d.) with normal renal function. Despite this, the patient did not develop major hematological toxicity. CONCLUSIONS: Lenalidomide doses of 5 mg b.i.d. led to high exposure in a patient with renal failure undergoing high cut-off dialysis. Yet, the dosage of 5 mg q.d. recommended in conventional dialysis would probably be adequate in such patients.

[Highlights of hospital-based internal medicine in 2010: chief residents' perspective]. / Médecine interne hospitalière: l'année 2010 en revue (2).

Applying knowledge acquired from recent medical studies to patient care poses a daily challenge to physicians. Chief residents from the Department of Internal Medicine at the University Hospital of Lausanne carried out a review of some of the issues they considered important. The conclusions of these various publications may have a significant impact on the daily practice of hospital-based internal medicine. Modern medicine based on scientific studies is a reminder that in spite of the essential importance of clinical experience, it is crucial to confront it with the results of relevant publications from the medical literature.

[Hospital based internal medicine: the year 2009 in review (I). The perspective of chief residents]. / Médecine interne hospitalière: l'année 2009 en revue (1). La perspective des chefs de clinique.

Internists must regularly adjust their patients care according to recent relevant publications. The chief residents from the Department of Internal Medicine of a university hospital present some major themes of internal medicine treated during the year 2009. Emphasis will be placed primarily on changes in the daily hospital practice induced by these recent studies. This variety of topics illustrates both the broad spectrum of the current internal medicine, and the many uncertainties associated with modern medical practice based on evidence.

Computer-based test to quantify the Pulfrich stereophenomenon.

BACKGROUND: Many eye and brain diseases may induce a spontaneous Pulfrich phenomenon (PP), a stereoillusion leading to misjudgments of objects moving in a frontoparallel plane. Since, until now, no simple PP quantification method has been available, a computer pendulum (CP) system was developed and evaluated. METHODS: In 5 normal subjects, PP was induced with different neutral density filters. The resulting retardations were measured with the gold standard (a mechanical pendulum; MP), and compared to a CP, allowing the generation of interocular image phase shifts. RESULTS: A high correlation between MP and CP was found (r = 0.97, p < 0.001; slope 0.91, p > 0.1 for difference with slope 1.0). A multiple linear regression showed a significant influence of the filter density and the subject tested. The type of pendulum (MP or CP) and the side on which the filter was held were nonsignificant. CONCLUSIONS: A CP allowing an interocular image phase shift can be used as an alternative to a MP for quantification of a PP. Thus, this principle would allow the development of software or an Internet-based test for PP quantification. However, in some subjects, the CP will overestimate and in others underestimate the real retardation measured with the MP.