Injury to the inferior phrenic artery after blunt trauma is an extremely rare event, and it may occur under unanticipated conditions. This case report describes an injury to the left inferior phrenic artery caused by blunt trauma, which was complicated by massive hemothorax, and treated with transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE).An 81 year-old female hit by a car while walking at the traffic intersection was transferred to the emergency department, computed tomography scanning revealed active extravasations of the contrast medium within the retrocrural space and from branches of the internal iliac artery. The patient underwent repeated angiography, and active extravasation of contrast medium was observed between the retrocrural space and the right pleural space originating from the left inferior phrenic artery. The injured left inferior phrenic artery was successfully embolized with N-butyl cyanoacrylate, resulting in stabilization of the patient’s clinical condition.Inferior phrenic artery injury should be recognized as a rare phenomenon and causative factor for hemothorax. TAE represents a safe and effective treatment for this complication and obviates the need for a thoracotomy.
Rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease (RP-ILD) in patients with clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis (CADM) associated with antibodies to melanoma differentiation-associated gene5 (MDA5) results in a high mortality rate. We experienced a case of anti-MDA5-positive RP-ILD of CADM which showed a response to rituximab, although there was no significant effect due to standard immunosuppressive treatment. This case suggests that rituximab has the potential to offer an effective agent for the treatment of anti-MDA5-positive RP-ILD of CADM.
A 47-year-old female with no history of previous illnesses developed cerebral infarction and was diagnosed with lung cancer, specifically EGFR mutation-positive adenocarcinoma, and Trousseau syndrome.The patient's response to anticoagulant therapy with non-fractionated heparin was very poor; however we were able to control the thrombosis with chemotherapy. She survived for one year and 10 months following treatment with gefitinib, CBDCA + PEM and erlotinib, without recurrence of thrombosis.Trousseau syndrome carries a poor prognosis and controlling thrombosis is difficult. In this case, the administration of anticancer therapy allowed use to control the patient's thrombosis. Therefore, this case highlights the importance of treating cancer in patients with Trousseau syndrome. In addition, the FDP and D-dimer levels changed in parallel with changes in the CEA level, which suggests that the activity of cancer is related to an internal thrombotic tendency. Hence, changes in the FDP and D-dimer values are associated with the efficacy of treatment with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors and chemotherapy and may function as markers of recurrence.
The inability to walk independently and GCS (consciousness status) are the most sensitive predictors of prognosis in emergency patients aged 90 years and older.
Fibrin degradation products and D-dimer levels might be more useful as predictors of return of spontaneous circulation than anion gap and albumin-corrected anion gap.
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