The heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis syndrome: Treatment with intraarterial urokinase and systemic platelet aggregation inhibitors

We report a case of the heparin-induced thrombocy-topenia and thrombosis syndrome presenting with acute ischemia of a lower limb. The patient was successfully treated by withdrawal of heparin products, intraarterial urokinase, and platelet anti-aggregation therapy consisting of Dextran and aspirin.     

Patterns of attendances to the hospital emergency eye care service: a multicentre study in England

Background/ObjectivesTo characterise the patterns of presentation and diagnostic frequencies in Hospital Emergency Eye Care Services (HEECS) across 13 hospitals in England.MethodsRetrospective, cross-sectional, observational multi-centre (n = 13) study to assess HEECS attendances over a 28-day study period. Data derived included: number of consecutive attendances, patient demographics and diagnoses. Age and gender variations, the impact of day of the week on attendance patterns, diagnostic frequencies and estimates of the annual incidence and attendance rates were evaluated.ResultsA total of 17,667 patient (mean ± standard deviation age = 49.6 ± 21.8 years) attendances were identified with an estimated HEECS annual new attendance rate of 31.0 per 1,000 population. Significantly more females (53%) than males (47%) attended HEECS (p < 0.001). Female attendances were 13% higher in those ≥50 years of age. Weekends were associated with a significant reduction in attendances compared to weekdays (χ² = 6.94, p < 0.001). Among weekdays, Mondays and Fridays were associated with significantly higher attendances compared with midweek (χ² = 2.20, p = 0.032). Presenting pathologies involving the external eye, cornea and conjunctiva accounted for 28.6% of the caseload.ConclusionThis is the largest multicentre study assessing attendance patterns in HEECS in England. We have, for the first time, observed a “weekend effect” in relation to attendance to HEECS. Differences in health-seeking behaviour and lack of awareness of HEECS weekend services may be partly attributed to the differences observed. Our findings, along with the type of presentations, have the potential to guide commissioners with future planning of HEECS.Subject terms: Epidemiology, Epidemiology     

Neonatal screening for congenital hypothyroidism in a developing country: problems and strategies

Neonatal screening in India poses more organisational and socio-economic rather than medical challenges. Based on the pilot study of 450 cord sera, the plan for screening considered cord TSH<30 μU/ml as normal, 30 to 80 as borderline with recall by letters and >80 as indicative of hypothyroid state, with recall by home visits. Of the 17,240 live births only 12,407 cord sera were collected. Envisaging follow-up difficulties, T₄ was assayed in cord sera when TSH was>30 μ U/ml. 2·81% (350) babies needed recall. Only 30% of 302 (2·43%) babies with cord TSG 30 to 80 responded, to recall letters and were normal; availability of both cord TSH and T₄ helped in excluding hypothyroidism in majority of non-respondents. Forty-eight (0·38%) newborns had TSH>90 μU/ml; 80% of this group and 100% with TSH> 100 μU/ml were traced by home visits. Hypothyroidism was confirmed in 5/48, biochemically and by thyroid scan. All five hypothyroids had cord TSH>300 μU/ml. The incidence in this nonendemic region of India was 1∶2481. Thus false elevation of cord TSH 30 to 300 μU/ml was noted in 0·34% with a chance of detecting a hypothyroid 1 in 10 when TSH>80 μU/ml. Screening strategies in a developing country must ensure meticulous clerical assistance, co-operation and education of nurses and parents, precise and cost effective technics and facilities for continued surveilance of detected hypothyroids.     

Further Experiences in Tuboplasty

I n spite of a great deal of work in the field of plastic surgery of the fallopian tubes, the problem still remains largely unsolved and presents a challenge to the ingenuity of every gynaecologist.     

The role of urologists in the management of urological injuries during obstetric and gynaecologic surgery

Introduction and hypothesis  

We investigated the role of urologists in the management of urological injuries (UI) during obstetric and gynaecological (Ob&Gyn) surgery in a setup where endourological facilities were available intraoperatively.     

Endocrine incidentalomas

Objectives: Endocrine incidentalomas are very common in the practice of every physician, mostly primary care and family physicians. Incidentalomas are discovered in the thyroid, pituitary and adrenal glands during imaging studies performed for non‐endocrine reasons. The aim of this review article is to familiarise health professionals with all three endocrine incidentalomas, and give some guidance on how to initiate the right endocrine workup. Methods: We reviewed the most pertinent literature published on this topic through PubMed and Medline. We also discussed our own approach to incidentalomas in the endocrine clinic at Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia. Results/conclusions: Thyroid incidentalomas are very common, with a prevalence close to 50% on imaging studies. Thyroid‐stimulating hormone (TSH) is the first test to obtain; if not suppressed, next step is fine‐needle aspiration biopsy of any nodule above 1 cm and/or with suspicious ultrasound characteristics. Adrenal incidentalomas have a prevalence of almost 5%. All adrenal nodules above 4 cm should be resected. Regardless of the size, a workup for pheochromocytoma should always be done. Only hypertensive patients should be screened for primary hyperaldosteronism. Pituitary incidentalomas are also common, with a prevalence of 10–20%. All patients with pituitary masses should have a workup for hormonal hypersecretion. Only patients with macroadenomas will have additional screening for hypopituitarism and visual field defects. All hyperfunctioning adenomas are resected except prolactinomas which are treated medically. Similarly, if a macroadenoma is causing hypopituitarism or visual deficit, surgery should also be considered.     

Salvage robot-assisted partial nephrectomy for the management of renal cell carcinoma following failed stereotactic radiotherapy

Nephron-sparing surgery is currently the standard of care for the management of small renal masses. While both neoadjuvant and adjuvant conventional external beam radiotherapy have failed to demonstrate an oncologic benefit for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma, more recent work aims to explore the utility of stereotactic radiotherapy. We present the case of a 70-year-old woman who failed primary treatment of a small renal mass with the CyberKnife radiotherapy system and describe her successful salvage treatment with robot-assisted partial nephrectomy. This case demonstrates the safety of robotic surgery for the management of renal tumors following failed stereotactic radiotherapy.