Medicine by Alexandros G.Sfakianakis,Anapafseos 5 Agios Nikolaos,Crete 72100,Greece,tel :00302841026182 & 00306932607174
The cover image, by Dajiang Song et al., is based on the Original Article Chimeric thoracoacromial artery perforator flap for one-staged reconstruction of complex pharyngoesophageal defects: A single unit experience, DOI: 10.1002/hed.24962
A 73-year-old man presented with three episodes of dysphasia and disinhibited behaviour, a single seizure and transient ischaemic attack-like events characterised by right arm and/or leg weakness. These episodes were separated by month-long asymptomatic intervals. Medical history included rheumatoid arthritis, which was clinically quiescent on leflunomide.
Repeated cerebrospinal fluid examination showed a persistent lymphocytosis with mildly reduced glucose and elevated protein; oligoclonal bands and viral PCR were negative. MRI of the brain was initially normal, but 7 months after initial presentation revealed meningeal enhancement with bifrontal cortical hyperintensities on T2/fluid-attenuated inversion recovery. Brain biopsy demonstrated necrotising granulomatous meningitis with mixed T cell and B cell infiltrates and without evidence of vasculitis or infection. Serum anticyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies were strongly positive.
The diagnosis of rheumatoid meningoencephalitis was made on the basis of brain biopsy findings and serological evidence of active rheumatoid disease. Steroids and rituximab therapy were started leading to clinical stabilisation.
Description
A 33-year-old man presented with recurrent pain and swelling in the inguinal region since the last 8 years, occasional fever and loss of sex drive. The pain and swelling usually lasted for 2–3 weeks with a pain-free interval of 4–5 months. He felt that the size of the left testis is gradually reducing. He had been married for more than 5 years without having any children. Clinical examination revealed swelling and tenderness of the scrotum more on the right (figure 1A).
Fro Figure 1
(A) A 33-year- old man with right-sided testicular swelling. (B) Ultrasonography of the scrotum reveals a hypoechogenic, small right testis with irregularly echogenicity in periphery due to fibrosis. (C) Colour Doppler reveals absence of vascular flow on right-side testis.
Ultrasound examination showed swelling of both epididymis with the outer area appearing irregularly echogenic due to fibrosis (figure 1B)....
Radiation therapy is used in the management of a number of childhood cancers and can have significant effects on skeletal growth. We present the case of a 35-year-old woman who developed a hypoplastic pelvis and buttocks following radiotherapy for rhabdomyosarcoma of the vagina at the age of 2. At the age of 25, the patient underwent bilateral buttock augmentation with a two-stage reconstruction using tissue expansion followed by definitive augmentation with anatomical breast implant insertion. The patient continues to have a satisfactory outcome 10 years following reconstruction, having undergone a single uplift procedure and exchange of implants through the original incision 9 years postoperatively. This case represents a unique reconstructive challenge to plastic surgeons and was successfully managed with a novel approach.
A young man with a history of smoking presented with acute-onset chest pain after lifting weights. He also noticed a change in his voice, tightness in his neck and difficulty breathing. A chest radiograph showed soft tissue emphysema in the neck. A CT scan of the chest revealed moderate amount of pneumomediastinum tracking into the neck and down to the diaphragm. He was haemodynamically stable and had no hypoxia or dysphagia. He was monitored for 48 hours and discharged home after resolution of his symptoms. A chest radiograph repeated after 6 weeks was normal.
A 60-year-old man presented with impaired consciousness and psychomotor agitation after a second allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) from a matched unrelated donor for acute myeloid leukaemia. Clinical, biological and radiological evidence suggested a diagnosis of central nervous system graft-versus-host disease (CNS-GvHD). After intrathecal infusion of methylprednisolone, the clinical symptoms as well as the radiological abnormalities disappeared. The present report illustrates the difficulties in the diagnosis and the management of CNS-GvHD, a very rare and still challenging neurological complication that can occur after allogeneic HSCT.
