Spontaneous tumor lysis syndrome is a rare oncological emergency associated with multiorgan failure. It is characterized by an elevation of uric acid, hyperphosphatemia, hypocalcemia, hyperkalemia and renal failure in the setting of no active chemotherapy as a result of lysis of massive tumor burden. Early recognition of the disease and prompt management would affect morbidity and mortality. We present the case of an 80-year-old Caucasian male with a history of recently diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma who had worsening fatigue, weakness and decreased appetite for three days. On admission, laboratory investigations were significant for elevated creatinine, uric acid, and phosphorous. He was started on hemodialysis and rasburicase in view of hyperuricemia. Subsequently, chemotherapy was started. He tolerated chemotherapy initially but later developed multiorgan failure. His family then opted for comfort measures and the patient passed away soon after. In conclusion, spontaneous tumor lysis syndrome is a common association with hematological cancers. Prophylaxis with allopurinol and rasburicase is recommended in all patients who are at an increased risk for tumor lysis syndrome.

Drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) is a rare but potentially life-threatening multi-system disorder with a mortality rate of up to 10%, due to severe hypersensitivity drug reaction involving the skin and multiple internal organ systems. We emphasize the increasing prevalence of DRESS syndrome secondary to vancomycin use. A 79-year-old woman presented to the hospital with complaints of right upper quadrant pain, intense pruritis, and jaundice of one-week duration. She was on vancomycin and cefepime for six weeks after a wound infection, and both the medicines were withheld a week ago due to the increasing creatinine. She was afebrile with a pulse-94/min, blood pressure-92/46 mm of Hg, and respiratory rate-14/min. She had scleral icterus, diffuse maculopapular rash, generalized edema, right upper quadrant tenderness, and a positive Murphy’s sign. Investigations revealed hemoglobin-10.5 gm/dl, white blood cell count-16.0 K/uL, peripheral eosinophil count-1730 K/uL, alkaline phosphatase-2742 U/L, aspartate transaminase-612 U/L, alanine transaminase-674 U/L, total bilirubin-14.2 mg/dl with a direct component of 9.5mg/dl, blood urea nitrogen-64 mg/dl, creatinine-5.01 mg/dl, glomerular filtration rate-8 ml/min and vancomycin trough level-10.8 mcg/ml. Imaging studies were unremarkable. The renal function improved after high dose steroids, N-acetylcysteine and withdrawal of vancomycin, but the progression of liver failure continued. Eventually, she passed away due to multiorgan failure. Vancomycin is a rare drug to cause DRESS syndrome with 31 cases reported to date. Early recognition of this condition can hasten proper treatment and recovery. Further research on the association of vancomycin trough levels and DRESS syndrome needs to be conducted.

Conventionally, Lactobacillus species are considered as low virulence organisms and rarely cause infection in immunocompetent individuals. However, it might be an opportunistic infection source in immunocompromised patients and can cause invasive serious infections. To our knowledge, there are only a handful of cases in the literature reporting primary bloodstream infection caused by Lactobacilli spp. in transplant recipients. Here, we report a case of a kidney transplant recipient with Lactobacillus rhamnosus bacteremia.