A Narrative Review of Existing Options for COVID-19-Specific Treatments.

The new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a global pandemic in early 2020. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has affected morbidity and mortality tremendously. Even though multiple drugs are being used throughout the world since the advent of COVID-19, only limited treatment options are available for COVID-19. Therefore, drugs targeting various pathologic aspects of the disease are being explored. Multiple studies have been published to demonstrate their clinical efficacy until now. Based on the current evidence to date, we summarized the mechanism, roles, and side effects of all existing treatment options to target this potentially fatal virus.

Eptifibatide-induced profound thrombocytopaenia: a rare complication.

Drug-induced immune thrombocytopaenia (DITP) is a type of thrombocytopaenia caused by medications. It is one of the common causes of unexplained thrombocytopaenia. It is caused by the formation of autoantibodies against a particular drug and is commonly observed with medications like heparin and beta-lactam antibiotics. One of the rare causes of DITP is eptifibatide, a widely used antiplatelet agent for pretreatment in cardiac catheterisation. These patients can be asymptomatic or develop complications like skin bruising, epistaxis and even intracranial haemorrhage. We present a case of a 64-year-old man who developed eptifibatide-induced profound thrombocytopaenia leading to extensive skin bruising. He was treated with platelet transfusions followed by prompt improvement in platelet count.

Neuroendocrine Tumor of the Cystic Duct: A Rare and Incidental Diagnosis.

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), also known as carcinoid tumors of the extrahepatic biliary tree, are extremely rare malignancies and account for 0.2% to 2% of all carcinoids of the gastrointestinal tract. The most common sites include NET in the common bile duct (CBD), followed by the perihilar region, cystic duct, and common hepatic duct (CHD). A review of the literature showed only eight cases of NETs of the cystic duct and we, hereby, present the ninth case of NET of the cystic duct in a 50-year-old woman. This was discovered incidentally after she underwent a laparoscopic cholecystectomy for her symptomatic gallbladder stones. The etiology is not known but the NETs are thought to arise from argentaffin cells (Kulchitsky cells) in the gastrointestinal tract or respiratory tract. It is possible that the rarity of these in this region may be explained by the very limited number of Kulchitsky cells there. Most of the patients are clinically asymptomatic, and the diagnosis is mostly made during surgery performed for other indications. Therefore, early recognition should be sought by differentiating the primary duct carcinoma of the bile or the cystic duct, if suspected or shown on the imaging studies because of the different therapeutic options and prognosis.

First Case Report of Metastatic Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Lung Associated with Mounier-Kuhn Syndrome and Review of Literature.

Mounier-Kuhn syndrome is a relatively rare condition, mostly involving the trachea and main stem bronchi. It is caused either by the atrophy of elastic fibers or faulty fetal development of cartilage and smooth muscles, hence leading to an overall increase in the diameter of lower respiratory tract. No certain etiology was found in the majority of cases reported previously, however, several other connective tissue diseases have also been implicated with the congenital tracheobronchomegaly. One anecdotal case report mentioned the development of lung malignancy in a patient who had previously received external beam radiotherapy. Herein, we report the first case of Mounier-Kuhn syndrome in a 62-year-old male with a recent diagnosis of metastatic squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lung.