Serositis causing pericardial and pleural effusions after eight years of maintenance ibrutinib for Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia.

INTRODUCTION: Ibrutinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved for multiple B-cell malignancies, including Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia in 2014. Although the drug portends favorable outcomes, it also bears a profile of side effects. Current literature describes only two cases of nonhemorrhagic pericardial effusion associated with ibrutinib use, and here we present the third. This case recounts an episode of serositis causing pericardial and pleural effusions and diffuse edema after eight years of maintenance ibrutinib for Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia (WM). CASE REPORT: A 90-year-old male with WM and atrial fibrillation presented to the emergency department for a week of progressive periorbital and upper and lower extremity edema, dyspnea, and gross hematuria, despite increasing at-home diuretic dose. The patient was on 140 mg ibrutinib twice daily. Labs showed stable creatinine, serum IgMs of 97, and negative serum and urine protein electrophoresis. Imaging revealed bilateral pleural effusions and pericardial effusion with impending tamponade. All other workup was unrevealing, diuretics were ceased, pericardial effusion was monitored with serial echocardiograms, and ibrutinib was exchanged for low-dose prednisone. MANAGEMENT AND OUTCOME: After five days, the effusions and edema dissipated, hematuria resolved, and patient was discharged. Resumption of lower dose ibrutinib one month later led to a subsequent return of edema, which again subsided with cessation. Reevaluation of maintenance therapy continues outpatient. CONCLUSION: Patients on ibrutinib presenting with dyspnea and edema should be monitored for pericardial effusion; the drug should be held in exchange for anti-inflammatory therapy, and future management should involve cautious, low-dose resumption, or exchange for alternative therapy.

Primary gastrointestinal lymphangiectasia presenting as cryptococcal meningitis.

BACKGROUND: Opportunistic infections commonly occur in immunocompromised patients; however, it is unusual for an adult to present with a combined cellular and humoral immunodeficiency. Cryptococcal meningitis is a fatal condition if untreated and is usually found in patients with cellular immunodeficiency. OBJECTIVE: To report the case of an adult patient with cryptococcal meningitis secondary to intestinal lymphangiectasia. METHODS: A 59-year-old man was admitted to the hospital for disseminated cryptococcal meningitis and osteomyelitis. Laboratory evaluation, computed tomography, esophagogastroduodenoscopy, and biopsy were performed. RESULTS: Laboratory evaluation revealed a lymphopenia, hypoalbuminemia, hypogammaglobulinemia, and negative human immunodeficiency virus test results by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and polymerase chain reaction. The complete blood cell count, urinalysis, serum and urine protein electrophoresis, and functional antibody responses to protein and polysaccharide antigens were normal. Results of computed tomography of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis were unremarkable. Multiple lymphangiectasias were visualized with esophagogastroduodenoscopy and confirmed by biopsy. The patient was treated with intravenous amphotericin B and flucytosine, and the meningitis resolved. CONCLUSIONS: Based on a computerized search of the medical literature, this is the first description of cryptococcal meningitis secondary to intestinal lymphangiectasias. The combination of lymphopenia, hypogammaglobulinemia, and hypoalbuminemia should alert the clinician to the possibility of intestinal lymphangiectasias and the potential for immune dysfunction.

A baffling basaloid blain.

Cutaneous metastases may present in a variety of histologic guises simulating more common primary tumors. We present the clinicopathologic features of a case masquerading as basal cell carcinoma. Epidermotropism, vascular invasion, and the absence of stromal retraction around tumor nests prompted further investigation. Clinical history and directed immunohistochemical staining ultimately revealed the diagnosis of cutaneous metastasis of transitional cell bladder carcinoma (TCC).