1/228. Intensive tandem cryofiltration apheresis and hemodialysis to treat a patient with severe calciphylaxis, cryoglobulinemia, and end-stage renal disease.This is the first report on tandem cryofiltration apheresis (CFA) and hemodialysis (HD). A 44 year old white man with Type II mixed cryoglobulinemia, hepatitis c virus (HCV), severe skin lesions, and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on maintenance hemodialysis was air-transferred for CFA, which is only available at our medical center. The patient failed to respond to high dose steroids, immunosuppression, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), and plasma exchange for the treatment of his cryoglobulinemia, and he failed alpha-interferon therapy for his HCV. On arrival, he was also found to have severe calciphylaxis secondary to ESRD with generalized, painful skin ulceration, necrosis, and penile gangrene. To treat both conditions, intensive, tandem CFA/HD was initiated. He received extensive wound care and surgical debridement. To prevent pressure ulcers and worsening of skin lesions, he was placed on the FluidAir (Kinetic Concepts Inc., San Antonio, TX) controlled air bed. The patient received 18 tandem CFA/HD treatments, and four extra HD treatments in one month. sodium citrate was used as an anticoagulant for the CFA procedure. His plasma cryoglobulin (CG) level dropped from 6,157 to 420 microg/ml, and his calciphylaxis also improved. The CFA effectively removed 93% of CG, without significant removal of IgG, IgM, IgA, albumin, and fibrinogen. No albumin or fresh frozen plasma (FFP) was required as replacement fluid for CFA. No citrate toxicity or evidence of complement activation with the cryofilter was observed. The entire CFA procedure time (3(1/2) hours) was considered. Intensive, tandem CFA/HD was performed in a critically ill patient with no apparent adverse consequences.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = ulcer (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/228. Massive tracheal necrosis due to compression by an innominate artery aneurysm associated with a grade IV Chagasic megaesophagus and chronic duodenal ulcer.A 49-year-old man suffered necrosis of the cephalad tracheal segment due to compression by an innominate artery aneurysm. A peritracheal abscess, a grade IV chagasic megaesophagus, and a duodenal ulcer were also present. The patient underwent a three-stage surgical treatment, and 7 years later he is doing well, and breathing and eating normally.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2.5keywords = ulcer (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/228. Metastasising malignant lymphoma mimicking necrotising and hyperplastic gingivostomatitis.This paper presents the case of a 65 year-old woman suffering from recurrent oral aphthoid ulcers which rapidly evolved towards hyperplastic and ulcerated lesions over the entire floor of the mouth. The initial lesions were interpreted as non-specific aphthoid ulcers. Later, a tentative diagnosis of necrotising stomatitis with secondary reactive proliferating epithelial hyperplasia was made. The clinical symptoms and the immuno-phenotyping of lymphocytes circulating in the peripheral blood suggested the diagnosis of CD30-positive large cell anaplastic lymphoma. The biopsy showed only a pseudoepitheliomatous hyperplasia, reactive infiltrates and no lymphoma cells. The disease ran a fulminant course leading to death within 4 weeks due to acute gastro-intestinal bleeding. autopsy revealed infiltrates of CD30 large cell anaplastic lymphoma in a submandibular lymph node, in a thrombus stenosing the right subclavian vein, in the spleen, the anterior and posterior gastric wall as well as in the depth of the tumour on the floor of the mouth. The clinical and histopathological spectrum of CD30 large cell anaplastic lymphoma is considerably variable. The particular feature of pseudoepitheliomatous hyperplasia has been reported especially in CD30 anaplastic large cell lymphomas. An early correct diagnosis is rendered difficult in insufficient biopsy size, becauses this type of lymphoma often simulates other inflammatory or neoplastic skin diseases. Thus, with a necrotising and hyperplastic gingivostomatitis, the diagnosis of a CD30 anaplastic large cell lymphoma should be considered.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.5keywords = ulcer (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/228. Necrotizing otitis externa caused by staphylococcus epidermidis.We present a case of malignant necrotizing otitis externa (MNOE) caused by staphylococcus epidermidis, which is usually a non-pathogenic microorganism. The patient is an otherwise healthy, nondiabetic 58-year-old white man. Contributory history began in 1994 after surgery for bilateral exostoses of the external auditory canals. Between April 1994 and May 1998 persistent otalgia occurred, with progressive mixed hearing losses, purulent discharge from both ears, spontaneous perforations of the tympanic membranes and ulceration of canal wall skin. From the beginning, Staph. epidermidis was isolated in all but one culture, but was not recognized as the pathological agent because of the presence of other more frequently involved bacteria and fungi. After multiple intravenous and oral antibiotics and antifungal treatments failed, further management involved frequent debridement of both external auditory canals and tympanic membranes, right tympanoplasty, bilateral mastoidectomy, revision tympanomastoidectomies and left modified radical mastoidectomy. Antistaphylococcal therapy including ceftazidime, vancomycin, teicoplanin, clindamycin and rifampicin was tried. Following the modified radical radical mastoidectomy, normalization of the status of his ears took approximately 2 months and has since remained stable to date. His left ear is deaf because of vancomycin administration, while magnetic resonance imaging and gallium scintigraphy have shown persistent inflammation of the skull base.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = ulcer (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/228. takayasu arteritis and cutaneous necrotizing vasculitis.takayasu arteritis (TA) is an inflammatory arteriopathy involving predominantly the aorta and its main branches. The disease evolves in two phases: a first, nonspecific inflammatory stage and a late 'pulseless' stage, in which complications related to arterial stenosis and aneurysm formation predominate. In both phases, skin manifestations, such as inflammatory nodules, erythema-nodosum- and pyoderma-gangrenosum-like ulcers, have been described. We report 2 patients with TA, who had cutaneous necrotizing vasculitis as presenting manifestation of the disease. A review of the literature revealed 8 similar cases. TA does not only involve large arteries, but also small blood vessels. The observation that in TA the inflammatory process of the large arteries affects regions of the walls supplied by the vasa vasorum, the anatomy of which bears resemblance to the cutaneous vessel system, suggests that primary involvement of small vessels contributes to the development of the clinicopathological features of TA. knowledge of the skin manifestations associated with TA remains important for its diagnosis and prompt instauration of life-saving treatment.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = ulcer (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/228. Pneumomediastinum in dermatomyositis: association with cutaneous vasculopathy.OBJECTIVES: To study the pathogenesis of pneumomediastinum in polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM/DM). patients AND methods: The clinical records of 48 patients with PM/DM were reviewed, focusing mainly on the presence of pneumomediastinum and cutaneous vasculopathy, and the chest radiographic changes. A patient with pneumomediastinum with a characteristic change in his bronchus is described in detail. case reports of pneumomediastinum in PM/DM in English publications are reviewed. RESULTS: Among the 48 patients with PM/DM, pneumomediastinum was observed as a complication in four patients with DM and none of the patients with PM. Three of the four patients with pneumomediastinum, but only six of the 44 patients without this complication, had associated cutaneous vasculopathy. There was a significant association of pneumomediastinum with cutaneous vasculopathy (p = 0.02) and younger age (p = 0.04), but not with the prevalence of lung disease. A 30 year old man (patient 1) with DM, who had interstitial pneumonitis and skin ulceration due to vasculopathy, developed pneumomediastinum. Fibreoptic bronchoscopy showed white plaques on the bronchial mucosa, which were confirmed by microscopic examination as representing subepithelial necrosis. A literature review showed 13 cases of DM but no patient with PM with pneumomediastinum. CONCLUSIONS: In patient 1, bronchial necrosis due to vasculopathy was strongly suspected as being responsible for the pneumomediastinum. The results suggest that pneumomediastinum was associated not with interstitial pneumonitis but with the complication of vasculopathy appearing as skin lesions in DM.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = ulcer (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/228. Disseminated lupus vulgaris and papulonecrotic tuberculid: case report.The incidence of tuberculosis and extrapulmonary forms of this disease is increasing all over the world. lupus vulgaris is the most prevalent form of cutaneous tuberculosis in europe and the middle east. Papulonecrotic tuberculid, the most common form of hyperergic response to mycobacteria or their fragments, is uncommon in children. We report lupus vulgaris with papulonecrotic tuberculid in a 12-year-old girl who had a 3-year history of slowly growing plaques on her trunk, extremities, and the tip of her nose and papuloulcerative lesions over her entire body. A skin biopsy specimen showed minimally caseating granulomatous inflammation. Staining for acid-fast bacilli was negative in both plaques and papules. polymerase chain reaction identified mycobacterium tuberculosis dna in the patient's sputum, gastric fluid, and plaques and was negative in the papules. She was started on antituberculous therapy with four drugs and her lesions responded rapidly.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = ulcer (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/228. Digital ulcers and necroses: novel manifestations of angiocentric lymphoma.We describe a patient with angiocentric lymphoma whose presenting features were multiple areas of digital ulceration and necrosis, including deep ulcers on both great toes. He lacked the lateral halves of both earlobes because of multiple ulcers. Skin biopsy revealed a patchy and diffuse infiltrate of lymphoid cells with nuclear atypia in the dermis and subcutaneous tissue. Angiocentric and angiodestructive features of the lymphoid cells, a prominent histiocytic infiltrate and some epithelioid cell granulomas were found. The results of immunohistochemical staining showed a T-cell phenotype, and showed positive staining for apoptosis. He died in July 1999. Peripheral vascular disturbances including Raynaud's phenomenon, digital skin ulcers and necroses are novel clinical symptoms in patients with angiocentric lymphoma, which should be added to the differential diagnosis in patients with peripheral vascular disturbances.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 4keywords = ulcer (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/228. Graft failure in human donor corneas due to transmission of herpes simplex virus.AIM: To report the clinical consequences of contamination of human donor corneas by herpes simplex virus (HSV) in organ culture. methods: Two patients without previous history of ocular HSV infection underwent penetrating keratoplasty (PK), one for keratoconus and the other for fuchs' endothelial dystrophy. One patient suffered primary graft failure while the other developed a persistent epithelial defect, ultimately resulting in graft failure. Viral culture of swabs taken from both corneas during the early postoperative period was undertaken. The failed donor corneas were examined histopathologically by immunohistochemistry (IHC) for HSV-1 antigens, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for HSV dna. Both failed corneas were replaced within 6 weeks of the initial surgery. The records of the fellow donor corneas were also examined for evidence of infection. RESULTS: HSV was cultured from both corneas during the early postoperative period. histology of both donor corneas demonstrated a thickened corneal stroma with widespread necrosis of keratocytes and loss of endothelial cells. IHC showed keratocytes positive with antibodies to HSV-1 antigens. TEM demonstrated HSV-like viral particles within degenerating keratocytes. PCR performed on the failed corneal grafts was positive for HSV-1 dna, whereas PCR performed on the excised host corneal buttons was negative in both patients. Records of the fellow donor corneas showed that one cornea was successfully transplanted into another recipient after 18 days in organ culture, whilst the other was discarded because of extensive endothelial cell necrosis noted after 15 days in organ culture. CONCLUSION: HSV within a donor cornea may cause endothelial destruction in organ culture and both primary graft failure and ulcerative keratitis after transplantation. Endothelial necrosis of a donor cornea in culture also raises the possibility of HSV infection within the fellow cornea.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = ulcer (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/228. Treatment of a patient with a deep leg ulcer using Biatain Adhesive.This article looks at the use of Biatain Adhesive, a new foam dressing from Coloplast which is manufactured by incorporating 3D polymer structures within the central pad. It is now available on the Drug Tariff. The article discusses the treatment of exuding wounds and highlights the benefits of Biatain Adhesive by focusing on the case of an 84-year-old woman who had a history of long-standing leg ulcers where previous dressings had failed to promote healing.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2.5keywords = ulcer (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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