No abstract

We should remember all the therapeutic and diagnostic options for a patient with upper gastrointestinal bezoars who present at the hospital whether or not there is a predisposing risk factor.

Platypnea-orthodeoxia syndrome (POS) has been defined as shortness of breath and hypoxemia in the upright position that improves with dorsal decubitus. This is a rare disorder caused by right-to-left shunts due to a persistent foramen ovale or pulmonary arteriovenous malformations. Hepatopulmonary syndrome can present with POS in the presence of pulmonary vasodilation and pulmonary arteriovenous communications in patients with liver disease. We report a case where the diagnosis of POS was made incidentally in a patient with cryptogenic liver cirrhosis. After other causes of hypoxemia were excluded, the diagnosis of right-to-left pulmonary shunt was confirmed by late opacification of the left heart chambers seen in a transthoracic echocardiogram. Interestingly, computerized tomography (CT) of the chest with contrast demonstrated a very prominent pulmonary vascular pattern extending to the periphery of the lungs. POS is a rare cause of hypoxemia that requires a high level of suspicion, and exclusion of more common causes of hypoxemia.

Intestinal stomas are commonly used in a temporary or permanent fashion in gastrointestinal surgeries. The complication rate of stomas has been reported to vary between 23 and 50%. There is only one case in the literature involving transstomal small bowel evisceration following colonic perforation. In this paper, we aimed to present a patient with a perforated colon secondary to ischemic colitis, which resulted in small bowel evisceration through this perforation site.

A 57-year-old woman with a history of asthma, hypertension and substance abuse disorder was admitted to the medical intensive care unit with hypercapnic respiratory failure. After the history was obtained, patient admitted heroin use earlier that day. The initial physical examination revealed right eye ptosis, diplopia, fatigability of neck flexion and extension. She also presented with wheezing and a prolonged expiratory phase. Pupils were 4 mm, with sluggish response to light bilaterally. CT chest with contrast showed a large mediastinal mass. Three different processes coexisted in this patient: simultaneous occurrence of a myasthenia gravis crisis, asthma exacerbation and a component of heroin use. This case highlights a series of overlapping clinical features that could lead to potential confounding and misdiagnosis. Respiratory symptoms improved after initial treatment for asthma exacerbation, but ptosis, diplopia and fatigability of neck muscles persisted.