Serratia marcescens bacteremia is common in patient populations with a history of intravenous drug use (IVDU), but it rarely causes infective endocarditis. We are reporting a 27-year-old female with a medical history significant for IVDU and hepatitis C virus infection who presented to the emergency department complaining of fever and shortness of breath. Computed tomography of the chest with intravenous (IV) contrast revealed extensive bilateral pulmonary infiltrates with multiple cavitary lesions. The patient was treated with IV vancomycin and piperacillin/tazobactam. Blood culture grows methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) and S. marcescens , both sensitive to cefepime/meropenem. Transesophageal echocardiogram revealed 3.4 x 2 cm tricuspid valve vegetation. Cardiothoracic surgery was consulted, who recommended transcatheter aspiration with the AngioVac® system (AngioDynamics Inc., Latham, NY). Post-procedure transesophageal echocardiogram revealed a significant reduction of vegetation size. Vegetation tissue culture grew MSSA and S. marcescens . The repeated blood culture revealed no growth, and the patient significantly improved clinically. She completed a six-week course of IV meropenem as an inpatient until she was discharged home.

Many clinical trial results are available to inform best practices in the treatment of patients with connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung disease (CTD-ILD).Herein, we summarize the results of clinical trials, including patient-reported outcome instruments, for the treatment of patients with ILD associated with systemic sclerosis (SSc/scleroderma), rheumatoid arthritis, and idiopathic inflammatory myositis, the diseases with the most available data. For SSc-ILD, the US Food and Drug Administration approved nintedanib (a tyrosine kinase inhibitor) in 2020 and subcutaneous tocilizumab (an IL-6 receptor monoclonal antibody) in 2021. Rituximab was recently shown to have similar efficacy but better tolerability than intravenous cyclophosphamide (CYC) for CTD-ILD therapy. Scleroderma Lung Study II, conducted in patients with SSc-ILD, showed that oral CYC and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) were comparable in their effects on lung function, but MMF was better tolerated. The increasing treatment armamentarium for patients with CTD-ILD offers physicians new opportunities to improve patient outcomes.

Diverticulosis and sessile serrated adenomas of the colon are common findings on routine colonoscopy. However, diverticulosis of the appendix is rare and is usually only discovered due to conversion to diverticulitis or as an incidental finding. Diverticulitis of the appendix can present as appendicitis but is associated with more risks. A pathology report is important in diverticulosis of the appendix due to the association with malignancy. This case report reviews a 52-year-old female who presented to the emergency department with right lower quadrant pain who was diagnosed with acute appendicitis and was incidentally found to have diverticulosis of the appendix with a sessile serrated adenoma.

Myocardial rupture is a rare complication of acute myocardial infarction (MI), usually presenting with chest pain. The most common site of rupture is the anterior wall. Myocardial rupture presents similar to cardiac tamponade, most frequently as cardiogenic shock. Many clinical conditions, however, present similarly. The differential diagnosis should include myocardial rupture if clinical suspicion is high. This report describes a 77-year-old man with a medical history putting him at significant risk for coronary artery disease status, including a coronary artery bypass graft, chronic kidney disease stage 3, and hyperlipidemia. He presented at the ED for worsening shortness of breath and feeling unwell. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed an anterior, anterolateral akinesis, a ventricular septal defect, and free wall rupture. Myocardial rupture is an acute cardiac emergency; a high level of clinical suspicion may help in detecting this rare manifestation of acute MI.

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