Sepsis due to phlegmonous gastritis in a cancer patient.

We bring forward a case of a 58-year-old female who, undergoing treatment for glioblastoma with temozolomide and radiotherapy, visited the Emergency Department due to acute abdominal pain and chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia. She was diagnosed with sepsis due to phlegmonous gastritis. After several weeks in the Intensive Care Unit with antimicrobial coverage, our patient was discharged. Conceptually, phlegmonous gastritis is a highly unusual bacterial infection of the gastric wall. Intrinsically related to the alteration of the immune system, and frequently linked to cancer patients, its high morbidity and mortality and exceptional casuistry require early treatment and clinical suspicion.

Chronological pattern of venous thromboembolism (VTE) occurrence impacts in survival of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

BACKGROUND: Limited data exist on the prognostic significance of the chronology of VTE in patients with PDAC. METHODS: Medical data and survival characteristics of patients treated for PDAC from 2019 to 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. Early VTE was defined as occurring within the three months of PDAC diagnosis. RESULTS: 197 patients were included, 54 (27.4%) developed a VTE. Early appearance of VTE was associated with worse prognosis: median overall survival (mOS) VTE < 3 months 8.5 months (HR 1.65, 95% CI 1.11-2.46; p = 0.014), mOS VTE > 3 months 12.8 months (HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.39-1.54; p = 0.5) and mOS patients without VTE 11.4 months (95% CI 10.1-15.4). There was no significant association between the patient's VTE risk according to the Khorana risk score (KRS) (chi2 test p-value = 0.9). CONCLUSION: Early VTE is a prognostic factor in PDAC, which may identify a more aggressive subtype.