Aortoenteric Fistula in A 25-Year-Old Man

Background

Aortoenteric fistula (AEF) is a rare diagnosis that is often considered only in older patients with histories of abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Objectives

To remind emergency physicians that traumatic injury and repair put patients at risk for formation of AEF.

Case Report

We discuss the case of a 25-year-old man who developed an aortoduodenal fistula weeks after a stab wound to the abdomen. AEF can occur anywhere along the gastrointestinal tract and can therefore present as either upper or lower tract bleeding. The expected triad of pain, pulsatile mass, and gastrointestinal bleeding is unfortunately rarely present, making diagnosis difficult. Patients often present with a self-limited herald bleed that precedes the fatal exsanguination by hours to days. Diagnosing the fistula at the time of the herald bleed can be difficult but lifesaving. Imaging studies are often misleading and only delay definitive operative treatment. Even with prompt diagnosis and treatment, mortality is high; without repair, it is 100%.

Conclusion

This case highlights the importance of suspecting and quickly recognizing AEF based on history and physical examination alone. After extensive preoperative imaging to confirm the diagnosis, this patient nearly died in the operating room as surgeons took down adhesions trying to reach the fistula to repair it.     

Aortoenteric fistula

A fistula between the aorta and the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is a relatively uncommon and often lethal cause of GI bleeding. This report describes a patient with massive upper GI bleeding due to an aortoduodenal fistula. Such fistulae arise because of a combination of mechanical factors and local infection; the varied clinical presentations can be explained by the pathogenesis of the disease entity. These clinical presentations are reviewed, and a suggested approach to the diagnosis and management is presented.     

Embolization of a Tentorial Dural Arterio-Venous Fistula Presenting as Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia

SYNOPSIS
A patient with a tentorial dural AV fistula causing atypical trigeminal neuralgia (TN) successfully treated by embolization is reported. The patient developed persisting throbbing facial pain in the distribution of the secondand third division of the right trigeminal nerve (V2,V3) after a history of typical neuralgia for one year, preceded by a two month spell of TN 6 years previously and accompanied by right-sided pulsatile tinnitus for 10 years. The patient's mother, brother and sister were also said to be affected by typical trigeminal neuralgia.
A right-sided dilated vein of Rosenthal due to a dural AV fistula fed by branches of the meningeal, occipital and meningo-hypophyseal trunk of the internal carotid artery was thought to cause trigeminal nerve compression. Complete resolution of symptoms after partial intra-arterial embolization of the main feeding arteries with N-butyroacrylate is described.     

Fistula Formation to the Bladder and to a Corpus Alienum as a Rare Complication of Diverticulitis: A Case Report

Background: Fistula formation is a known complication of diverticulitis. Treatment of a diverticular fistula depends on the comorbidity of the patient and the severity of the disease. Case report: A 59-year-old man presented to the Emergency Department with chronic lower back pain that was being treated with a neurostimulator. He presented with severe sepsis, and an abscess formation near the neurostimulator. An abdominal and pelvic computed tomography scan revealed diverticulitis complicated by fistula formation to the neurostimulator and bladder. He was successfully treated by a two-stage procedure: first, exploration and drainage of the abscess, with removal of the foreign body, followed by a sigmoid resection 1 week later. Conclusion: In rare but severe presentations of diverticular disease, it is very important to limit initial treatment to the most threatening disorder.     

Multiple Sclerosis Presenting as a Delirium: A Case Report

Objective

To report a case of multiple sclerosis (MS) with delirium as the first presentation.

Clinical Presentation and Intervention

A 34-year-old female was referred to our department with an acute onset of drowsiness, withdrawal from routine activities and aggression, followed by neurologic deficits after a couple of days. Clinical and radiographic examinations were performed, leading to the initial diagnosis of MS. A vast range of differential diagnoses was excluded to confirm the diagnosis of MS.

Conclusion

Neurological examination and appropriate imaging enabled the diagnosis of MS with delirium in this patient followed by the appropriate treatment.Key Words: Multiple sclerosis, Delirium, Plasmapheresis     

Cough Headache Presenting as a Toothache: A Case Report

SYNOPSIS
Benign cough headache (BCH) presents as an intermittent, usually bilateral, severe bursting or explosive pain brought on by coughing. Some of the known conditions which can mimic the pain experienced in BCH are subarachnoid hemorrhage, increased intracranial pressure, intracranial tumors, and even toothache. Careful evaluation must be carried out in order to differentiate between these conditions. A case of BCH which presented as a toothache is reported. The evaluation for exertional headaches, and for headaches brought on by coughing, is discussed.     

手术后胃肠瘘40例原因分析及预防

目的：对手术后胃肠瘘原因进行分析,从而提出防范措施。方法：对我院自1980～2003年收治的手术后胃肠瘘40例临床资料进行分析。结果：术中误伤、胃肠管吻合技术欠佳、腹腔引流不当、保留无生机肠管、遗漏腹腔远隔脏器损伤、阑尾脓肿手术对阑尾处理不当等,是导致术后胃肠瘘的医源性因素。结论：在基层医疗单位的工作中,如何预防术后胃肠瘘较研究胃肠瘘的治疗更具有实际意义。     

Primary aortoduodenal fistula presenting as an upper gastrointestinal bleed

A case of primary aortoduodenal fistula, which presented as an upper gastrointestinal bleed, is described, including a brief review of the literature. Since 1952, with the advent of homograft replacement, there has been a significant decrease in the number of reported cases of aortoenteric fistulas of the primary type.     

Systemic Lupus Erythematous Presenting as a Grand Mal Seizure: Case Report

A 30-year-old female presented to their local emergency department with an active, unprovoked generalized tonic-clonic seizure in progress. Past medical and family history of the patient did not include inflammatory or autoimmune conditions nor epilepsy or seizure. The patient’s toxicology screen was negative, along with neurological and infectious differentials assessed for rule-outs. This case report includes updated guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus for advanced practice providers.     

Congenital Bronchial Stenosis Presenting as Neonatal Respiratory Distress: A Case Report

BackgroundNeonatal respiratory distress has a broad differential that includes cardiac, pulmonary, anatomic, and infectious etiologies. Congenital stenotic lesions of the trachea and bronchus are rare and can occur anywhere along the tracheobronchial tree. Patients with tracheobronchial stenosis typically present in the neonatal period with respiratory distress.Case ReportWe present a case of a 10-day-old term female who presented to the emergency department (ED) with tachypnea and increased work of breathing. She was found to have congenital bronchial stenosis of her right mainstem bronchus. She was stabilized in the ED and remained in the neonatal intensive care unit until successful slide tracheoplasty was performed.Why Should an Emergency Physician Be Aware of This?Congenital bronchial stenosis is a rare etiology of respiratory distress in a neonate. Anatomic lower airway abnormalities are an important cause of neonatal tachypnea and must remain on the differential. In addition to respiratory stabilization with noninvasive or invasive support, evaluation should be directed at determining the location and anatomic characteristics of the area of stenosis.     

Nasogastric Aspiration and Lavage in Emergency Department Patients with Hematochezia or Melena Without Hematemesis

Objectives: The utility of nasogastric aspiration and lavage in the emergency management of patients with melena or hematochezia without hematemesis is controversial. This evidence‐based emergency medicine review evaluates the following question: does nasogastric aspiration and lavage in patients with melena or hematochezia and no hematemesis differentiate an upper from lower source of gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding? Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and other databases were searched. Studies were selected for inclusion in the review if the authors had performed nasogastric aspiration (with or without lavage) in all patients with hematochezia or melena and performed esophagogastroduodenal endoscopy (EGD) in all patients. Studies were excluded if they enrolled patients with history of esophageal varices or included patients with hematemesis or coffee ground emesis (unless the data for patients without hematemesis or coffee ground emesis could be separated out). The outcome was identifying upper GI hemorrhage (active bleeding or high‐risk lesions potentially responsible for hemorrhage) and the rate of complications associated with the nasogastric tube insertion. Quality of the included studies was assessed using standard criteria for diagnostic accuracy studies. Results: Three retrospective studies met our inclusion and exclusion criteria. The prevalence of an upper GI source for patients with melena or hematochezia without hematemesis was 32% to 74%. According to the included studies, the diagnostic performance of the nasogastric aspiration and lavage for predicting upper GI bleeding is poor. The sensitivity of this test ranged from 42% to 84%, the specificity from 54% to 91%, and negative likelihood ratios from 0.62 to 0.20. Only one study reported the rate complications associated with nasogastric aspiration and lavage (1.6%). Conclusions: Nasogastric aspiration, with or without lavage, has a low sensitivity and poor negative likelihood ratio, which limits its utility in ruling out an upper GI source of bleeding in patients with melena or hematochezia without hematemesis. ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2010; 17:126–132 © 2010 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine     

以腹水为主要表现的多发性骨髓瘤一例报告

1病例资料女，71岁。因食欲缺乏、消瘦、乏力1年，腹胀、排尿困难半月人院。患者既往有高血压病史20年，口服降压药，血压控制尚可，慢性肾病史2年。查体：体温36．5℃，脉搏92／min，呼吸23／min，血压200／100mmHg。浅表淋巴结未触及增大。腹部膨隆，肝肋下4cm，剑突下6cm，质韧，肝肾区叩痛，移动性浊音阳性。     

恶性组织细胞病多次误诊一例

1病例资料男,60岁。因无明显诱因乏力、食欲缺乏1个月,发热、口周疱疹3天入院。查体:体温38℃,脉搏100/m in,血压115/76 mmHg。精神萎靡,全身皮肤、黏膜无黄染,无发绀及淤斑,浅表淋巴结未触及,口周见散在疱疹;咽部无充血,双侧扁桃体不大;胸骨无压痛。心率100/m in,律齐,未闻及杂音,右肺底可闻及湿啰音。腹平软,肝脾肋下未触及,腹部无包块,无压痛,腹水征(-),肠鸣音正常。双下肢无水肿,生理反射存在,病理反射未引出。医技检查:血白细胞3·9×109/L,中性粒细胞0·68,红细胞3·2×1012/L,红细胞沉降率24 mm/h,血红蛋白103 g/L,血小板57×109/L…     

结核性脑炎并发吞咽障碍：1 例报道

目的分析1 例结核性脑炎患者并发吞咽障碍的特点。方法分析该患者吞咽障碍的特点,发现症状与体征不符,与神经性吞咽障碍的特点存在不同。采取电视荧光放射吞咽功能检查,细致观察并选择恰当透视范围。结果该患者吞咽障碍的原因是气管食管瘘,为器质性吞咽障碍。结论临床上存在脑部病变伴随器质性吞咽障碍而非神经性吞咽障碍的病例。