Septic Shock Secondary to Severe Gastroenteritis Resulting From Sapovirus Infection.

Sapovirus causes acute gastroenteritis (AGE) which manifests as severe diarrhea and vomiting. It is most often seen in, but not limited to, children and toddlers but can occur in people of all ages. It is typically more prevalent in low to middle-income countries but has also been reported in progressive countries such as the United States. Due to the universal use of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing, the reported incidence of sapovirus has continued to grow as the culprit agent in both AGE outbreaks and isolated cases. Its symptoms resemble what is seen with rotavirus but with a milder clinical course. This discussion explores the dire implications of a relatively understated pathogen. Here, we present a rare case of a 20-year-old woman who presented with septic shock secondary to severe gastroenteritis as a result of sapovirus infection.

Adjunctive extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal in refractory status asthmaticus.

Status asthmaticus (SA) is a life-threatening disorder. Severe respiratory failure may require extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Previous reports have demonstrated utility of ECMO in SA in various patients with varying success. A 25-year-old man was admitted with status asthmatics and severe hypercapnic respiratory failure. Despite tailored ventilator therapies, such as pressure control ventilation and maximal pharmacological therapy, including general anaesthesia, the patient’s condition deteriorated rapidly. Veno-venous ECMO (VV-ECMO) was provided for respiratory support. The patient’s clinical condition improved over the following 72 hours and was discharged from the intensive care unit on day 3. This case report demonstrates the successful use of VV-ECMO in a patient with severe respiratory failure due to SA, who failed to respond to maximal therapy. This case adds support to a growing body of literature that shows that ECMO can be used with success for refractory status asthmaticus.

Incidental tracheal diverticulum discovered 30 years after tracheo-esophageal fistula repair.

Tracheo-esophageal fistula is a well-described congenital abnormality treated surgically upon diagnosis. Although respiratory-related and reflux-related complications are frequent, recurrent fistula and diverticulum can occur. This case report describes the rare occurrence of a gross type B fistula repaired at birth, which was then asymptomatic for nearly 30 years until presentation with chest pain. Upon workup, the patient was found to have an isolated tracheal diverticulum without recurrent fistula. We highlight the need for a focused workup despite the length of time since fistula repair and the varied treatment modalities described in the literature.

Resident performed two-point compression ultrasound is inadequate for diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis in the critically III.

Doppler ultrasonography is a standard in diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) but is often delayed. Clinician-performed focused vascular sonography (FVS) has proven to accurately diagnose DVT in the ambulatory and emergency room settings. Whether trained medical residents can perform quality FVS in the critically ill is unknown. Medical residents were trained in a 2-hour module in FVS assessing for complete compressibility of common femoral and popliteal veins. Residents imaged consecutive medical ICU and intermediate care patients awaiting comprehensive, sonographer-performed and radiologist-interpreted examinations. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of the focused examination were calculated against the comprehensive study. Fleiss Kappa (κ), the degree of agreement between resident and radiologist, was calculated. Time savings was measured. Nineteen residents performed 143 studies on 75 patients. Twelve patients had above-the-knee DVTs, a prevalence of 16 %. All 6 common femoral and 7 of 9 popliteal vein DVTs were identified. None of 6 isolated superficial femoral DVTs were identified. Sensitivity for above-the-knee DVT was 63 %, specificity 97 %. Sensitivity for common femoral and popliteal DVT was 86 %, specificity 97 %. Residents showed substantial agreement with radiologists for diagnosis of DVT (κ = 0.70, SE 0.114, p < 0.001).Time from order of a formal ultrasound to a radiologist's read averaged 14.7 h. The two-point compression ultrasound method demonstrated insufficient sensitivity in a cohort of critically ill medical patients due to a high-incidence of superficial femoral DVT. However, residents demonstrated substantial agreement with radiologists for the diagnosis of clinically relevant DVT after a 2-hour course. FVS should include the superficial femoral vein and is associated with a significant time savings.

Focused renal sonography performed and interpreted by internal medicine residents.

OBJECTIVES: Intensivist-performed focused sonography, including renal sonography, is becoming accepted practice. Whether internal medicine residents can be trained to accurately rule out renal obstruction and identify sonographic findings of chronic kidney disease is unknown. The purpose of this study was to test the ability of residents to evaluate for this specific constellation of findings. METHODS: Internal medicine residents were trained in a 5-hour module on focused renal sonography evaluating renal length, echogenicity, hydronephrosis, and cysts on a convenience sample of medical ward, intermediate care, and medical intensive care unit patients. All patients underwent comprehensive sonography within 24 hours. The primary outcome was represented by the Fleiss κ statistic, which indicated the degree of interobserver agreement between residents and radiologists. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were calculated using the comprehensive radiologist-read examination as the reference. RESULTS: Seventeen internal medicine residents imaged 125 kidneys on 66 patients. The average number of studies performed was 7.3 (SD, 6.6). Residents demonstrated excellent agreement with radiologists for hydronephrosis (κ = 0.73; P < .001; SE, 0.15; sensitivity, 94%; specificity, 93%), moderate agreement for echogenic kidneys (κ = 0.43; P < .001; SE, 0.13; sensitivity, 40%; specificity, 98%), and substantial agreement for renal cysts (κ = 0.61; P < .001; SE, 0.12; sensitivity, 60%; specificity, 96%). Residents showed sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 88% for identification of atrophic kidneys, defined as length less than 8 cm. CONCLUSIONS: After a 5-hour training course, medical residents accurately identified hydronephrosis and key sonographic findings of chronic kidney disease in a cohort of medical patients. Screening for hydronephrosis and renal atrophy can be performed by medical residents after adequate training.

Agreement between SPECT V/Q scan and CT angiography in patients with high clinical suspicion of PE.

OBJECTIVE: To track agreement between single positron emission computed tomography (SPECT) V/Q and CT angiography in patients with high clinical suspicion of pulmonary embolism (PE). If significant agreement occurs, a case could be made for more frequent use of chest radiography followed by SPECT V/Q scanning given its lower risk profile. INTRODUCTION: Diagnosis of PE can be difficult. CT pulmonary angiography (CTA) is the preferred initial test, but may be indeterminate, is a significant source of ionizing radiation, and is contraindicated in renal insufficiency. SPECT ventilation/perfusion imaging (V/Q) is therefore preferred in certain patients. METHODS: Two thousand nine hundred and twenty patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital in New York City were screened and 100 consecutive high-risk patients who required both CTA and V/Q for an initial indeterminate or negative imaging test despite a high pre-test probability were identified. The agreement between these tests was evaluated. RESULTS: There was no significant agreement between CTA and V/Q when positive, negative and indeterminate results were included (K = 0.18, SE = 0.09, p = 0.051). However, in the presence of a positive finding on either test, there was substantial agreement between the two (K = 0.62, SE = 0.27, p = 0.02). In 30 cases in which CTA was indeterminate, V/Q was diagnostic 93 % of the time. In 12 cases in which V/Q was indeterminate, CTA was diagnostic 83 % of the time and negative in 100 % of those cases. CONCLUSION: In the presence of an indeterminate CTA in patients with high clinical suspicion of PE, SPECT V/Q often provides a diagnosis.