Mesenchymal cystic hamartoma of the lung.

Mesenchymal cystic hamartoma, although first reported as early as 1980s, remains a very rare lung disease. There have been less than 20 cases reported to date. Mesenchymal cystic hamartoma usually has an indolent course, but it could potentially result in morbidity and mortality. Biopsy is needed to confirm the diagnosis because it is essential to rule out other possibilities including malignancy.

Pathogenesis and Epidemiology of Venous Thromboembolic Disease.

Venous thromboembolism is the formation of a blood clot in the vein. It mainly consists of 2 life-threatening conditions-deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Deep venous thrombosis is a potentially dangerous condition with grave sequelae, the worst of which is pulmonary embolism. Venous thromboembolism can also lead to multiple other conditions with significant morbidity and mortality that include extension of thrombi, pulmonary hypertension, recurrence, and postthrombotic syndrome. An update on the epidemiology, etiology, and pathogenesis of venous thromboembolism will be reviewed in this article.

Deep Venous Thrombosis of the Upper and Lower Extremity.

Upper and lower extremity deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is defined as a blood clot within the deep veins of the affected extremities. These blood clots can either occur spontaneously or be associated with specific risk factors. Regardless of the cause, DVT is associated with significant morbidity and mortality and has the potential for lethal complications. The most notable complication is the potential for development of pulmonary embolism from a lower extremity DVT. As studies have reported, more than 90% of acute pulmonary emboli arise from the proximal veins. Venous thromboembolism is also associated with a significant economic burden on the health care system and the individual patient. In this article, we review DVT of the upper and lower extremity including risk factors, signs and symptoms, diagnosis, and management.

Venous Thromboembolism and Pulmonary Embolism Response Teams: An Overview.

Venous thromboembolism is a common disease with a wide array of signs and symptoms. It has been cited as the third leading cause of cardiovascular death, and if left untreated, it leads to death in 1 in 4 patients. Sophisticated diagnostic tools have allowed physician to become more accurate in diagnosing pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis. The advent of new oral anticoagulants, the emergence of pulmonary embolism response teams, and protocols demonstrate recent achievements in the management of venous thromboembolism. The focus of this article is to discuss the treatment of venous thromboembolism.

Acute fibrinous and organizing pneumonia in a patient with Sjogren's syndrome.

Acute fibrinous and organizing pneumonia (AFOP) is a histological pattern characterized by intra-alveolar fibrin deposition and associated organizing pneumonia. AFOP has been associated with many rheumatologic disorders in the literature but has not been described in association with Sjogren's syndrome. This paper shows a rare association of AFOP with Sjogren's syndrome. Patient's symptoms promptly improved after treatment with steroid.

Iatrogenic Transient Complete Heart Block in a Preexisting LBBB.

Catheter induced cardiac arrhythmia is a well-known complication encountered during pulmonary artery or cardiac catheterization. Injury to the cardiac conducting system often involves the right bundle branch which in a patient with preexisting left bundle branch block can lead to fatal arrhythmia including asystole. Such a complication during central venous cannulation is rare as it usually does not enter the heart. The guide wire or the cannula itself can cause such an injury during central venous cannulation. The length of the guide wire, its rigidity, and lack of set guidelines for its insertion make it theoretically more prone to cause such an injury. We report a case of LBBB that went into transient complete heart block following guide wire insertion during a central venous cannulation procedure.

Cytomegalovirus Cutaneous Infection in an Immunocompromised Patient.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV), a member of the Herpesviridae family, is an opportunistic infection with a typically benign course in the healthy host but has a more ominous course in the immunocompromised population. CMV infection commonly affects the visceral organs, particularly the respiratory and the gastrointestinal tract. CMV cutaneous lesions are rare and can be easily missed. We present a case of a 76-year-old woman presenting with a diffuse non-pruritic macular lesion with scattered vesicles and bullae, which was initially treated as a varicella zoster virus infection and herpes simplex viral infection, but was later found on biopsy to be due to cytomegalovirus. She has a history of Sjögren's syndrome, interstitial lung disease, and being on chronic immunosuppression therapy. This case highlights the importance of considering CMV infection in the differential diagnosis of vesicular skin lesions in immunocompromised patients. Based on a PubMed search for "cutaneous cytomegalovirus", "cutaneous CMV", "cytomegalovirus skin", and "skin CMV" in material published in the last 20 years (from 1996 to 2016) and reviewing any applicable referenced material outside of those dates, cases of cutaneous CMV are not well documented.

May-Thurner Syndrome With Pulmonary Embolism as the First Presentation Rather Than Deep Vein Thrombosis.

May-Thurner syndrome (MTS) is a rare disease that causes deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in young females (age 20 to 50). DVT is caused by mechanical obstruction of the left common iliac vein by the right common iliac artery resulting in stasis rather than a primary hypercoagulable state. Although MTS is found in 22% of cadavers, it causes <5% of lower extremity venous disorder. Greater than 70% compression is needed to cause DVT. MTS patients usually present with acute left leg edema. Many cases are recurrent with a past workup negative for other etiologies of DVT or pulmonary embolism (PE). Cases rarely present as PE rather than DVT. We present a case of this syndrome at a younger-than-typical age with PE as the first presentation. Femoral stick venogram is the gold standard for diagnosing MTS as therapeutic procedures can be done concurrently. Anticoagulation therapy alone is insufficient to prevent recurrence.

Acute Pneumonia.

Acute pneumonia is an active infection of the lungs that results when an individual at risk gets exposed to a particular microbiological pathogen. Acute pneumonia is the leading cause of death in the United States that is attributable to an infection. The risk factors, pathogenesis, and microbiological organisms involved differ if the pneumonia develops in the community versus health care-associated environment. The development of concise and comprehensive guidelines has led to an improvement in the management of the problem. However, the emergence of multidrug-resistant organisms and the increase in the percentage of elderly population keep mortality risk very substantial.

Multiple Myeloma Associated Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy: The Importance of Continued Surveillance.

Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) is an autoimmune disease presenting with weakness and numbness in a remitting or chronic progressive course. It is known to have several clinical presentations and several associated diseases. CIDP has been associated with multiple myeloma, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), and other paraproteinemias. We present a case of refractory CIDP in which the initial workup for multiple myeloma was negative, and multiple myeloma was then diagnosed two and half years later. Treatment of the multiple myeloma led to clinical improvement. This case is instructive in that perhaps more frequent surveillance for paraproteinemia in patients with CIPD, even after a negative initial workup, could lead to a better clinical outcome.