[Prehospital postcardiac-arrest-sedation and -care in the Federal Republic of Germany-a web-based survey of emergency physicians]. / Präklinische Post-Cardiac-Arrest-Sedierung und -Behandlung in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland ­ eine webbasierte Umfrage unter notärztlichem Personal.

BACKGROUND: This study evaluates the implementation of postcardiac-arrest-sedation (PCAS) and -care (PRC) by prehospital emergency physicians in Germany. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Analysis of a web-based survey from October to November 2022. Questions were asked about implementation, medications used, complications, motivation for implementing or not implementing PCAS, and measures and target parameters of PRC. RESULTS: A total of 500 emergency physicians participated in the survey. In all, 73.4% stated that they regularly performed PCAS (hypnotics: 84.7%; analgesics: 71.1%; relaxants: 29.7%). Indications were pressing against the respirator (88.3%), analgesia (74.1%), synchronization to respirator (59.5%), and change of airway device (52.6%). Reasons for not performing PCAS (26.6%) included unconscious patients (73.7%); concern about hypotension (31.6%), re-arrest (26.3%), and worsening neurological assessment (22.5%). Complications of PCAS were observed by 19.3% of participants (acute hypotension [74.6%]); (re-arrest [32.4%]). In addition to baseline monitoring, PRC included 12-lead-electrocardiogram (96.6%); capnography (91.6%); catecholamine therapy (77.6%); focused echocardiography (20.6%), lung ultrasound (12.0%) and abdominal ultrasound (5.6%); induction of hypothermia (13.6%) and blood gas analysis (7.4%). An etCO2 of 35-45 mm Hg was targeted by 40.6%, while 9.0% of participants targeted an SpO2 of 94-98% and 19.2% of participants targeted a systolic blood pressure of ≥ 100 mm Hg. CONCLUSIONS: Prehospital PRC in Germany is heterogeneous and deviations from its target parameters are frequent. PCAS is frequent and associated with relevant complications. The development of preclinical care algorithms for PCAS and PRC within preclinical care seems urgently needed.

[An uncommon cause of recurrent abdominal pain in a 63-year-old obese woman]. / Ungewöhnlicher Grund für rezidivierende Bauchschmerzen bei einer adipösen 63-jährigen Patientin.

HISTORY AND CLINICAL FINDINGS: A 63-year-old woman was admitted because of abdominal pain for 12 months, associated with an increasing abdominal distension. One month before a gastroscopy had revealed mild gastritis. The taking of proton pump inhibitors did not improve her symptoms. There was no relevant neurological or psychiatric past history. INVESTIGATIONS: Ultrasound and laboratory tests demonstrated a fatty liver and increased serum levels of lipoproteins. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an increase in subcutaneous and intraperitoneal adipose tissue. Endoscopy did not show any additional significant findings. DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT: The patient had adiposis dolorosa. Initially she was given daily a combination of mexiletine 400 mg and 75 mg Amitriptyline. After a few days the ailment decreased and had disappeared completely after one week. Three months later the dosage was reduced to 100 mg mexiletine and 25 mg Amitriptyline daily. After another two months all medication was discontinued. At follow-up after 12 months the symptoms had not recurred. CONCLUSION: This case demonstrates that abdominal pain is not always caused by diseases of the visceral hollow organs. It must also be borne in mind that abdominal pain may be associated with adipose tissue, as is the case in adiposis dolorosa. The disease can be successfully treated, as in this case, using a combination of mexiletine and Amitriptyline.

[Anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome: a case report (interview by Dr. Erik Heintz)]. / Wiederholte Aborte, Thrombosen und Thrombozytopenie: Bringen Sie diese Symptome auf einen gemeinsamen Nenner?

In a 29-year old patient with a triad of symptoms arising from an abortion in conjunction with a thrombosis and thrombocytopenia, the suspicion of an anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome (APS) was confirmed through the detection of increased levels of antiphospholipid antibody. Because of the continued wish to have children, the patient received oral methyl prednisolone and therapeutic doses of low molecular weight heparin.

[Chronic upper abdominal pain without improvement after using proton pump inhibitors]. / Langjährige Oberbauchschmerzen ohne Besserung durch Protonenpumpeninhibitoren.

HISTORY AND CLINICAL FINDINGS: A 57-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of relapsing, therapy-resistant pain, predominantly in the upper abdomen. The symptoms began 6 years previously, after a resection of parts of the small intestine for an ileus of unclear cause. Subsequently 11 (!) gastroscopies showed repeatedly gastritis and Helicobacter pylori- negative gastric and/or small intestinal ulcers which were treated with proton pump inhibitors. This led to no significant improvement of the complaints and produced no healing. DIAGNOSTIC FINDINGS AND THERAPY: Gastroscopy showed, at the transition of the gastric fundus to the corpus, an area with multiple, fibrin coated ulcers. Histologically an active, chronic gastric ulcer was seen, with perifocally dense inflammatory infiltration by predominantly eosinophils. In the colon these histological findings, although clearly less pronouncedly, were also seen i.e. an eosinophilic gastroenteropathy. This was initially treated with 60 mg/day prednisone. Under this treatment she became completely symptom-free. After a dose reduction to 5 mg prednisone daily the symptoms occurred again. Thereupon long-term immunosuppressive therapy with 100 mg azathioprine daily was introduced. Regular clinical and endoscopic monitoring showed a complete remission of the ulcers and no complaints after 1.5 years. CONCLUSION: Our case report shows that in patients with uncharacteristic abdominal pain and gastric ulcers, which improve inadequately under the usual medication such as proton pump inhibitors, less common illnesses must be considered. Despite the rarity of eosinophilic gastroenteropathy the exact (histological) diagnosis plays an important role, because a specific therapy with corticosteroids and/or azathioprine can induce improvement of the symptoms.

The emergence of a C/EBPalpha mutation in the clonal evolution of MDS towards secondary AML.

Recently, mutations in the transcription factor CCAAT/ enhancer binding protein alpha (C/EBPalpha) have been described in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We performed a mutational analysis of the C/EBPalpha gene in the myelodysplastic syndromes and AML with antecedent MDS. No mutations were found in patients with refractory anemia (0/27), refractory anemia with ringed sideroblasts (0/7), refractory anemia with excess of blasts (RAEB 0/16) or chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML 0/5). One out of 13 patients with RAEB-T/AML secondary to MDS showed a mutation in the C/EBPalpha gene. In this patient a 4 bp insertion disrupted codon 69 in one allele. This novel +1 frame shift is predicted to result in a truncated protein of 107 amino acids. However, the dominant protein translated was the C/EBPalpha isoform p30, which was previously shown to inhibit the DNA-binding and transactivation properties of C/EBPalpha p42. Interestingly this mutation could not be detected at diagnosis in the initial RAEB and RAEB-T stage. The mutation appeared at relapse after chemotherapy for RAEB-T. We conclude that the C/EBPalpha mutation was not essential for the initial blast accumulation. The emergence of a bast clone carrying a C/EBPalpha mutation at relapse indicates that this mutation may confer a growth advantage in a myeloid cell with an established differentiation block.