Smuggling drugs by swallowing or inserting into a body cavity is not only a serious and growing international crime, but can also lead to lethal medical complications. The most common cause of death in ‘body packers', people transporting drugs by ingesting a packet into the gastrointestinal tract, is acute drug toxicity from a ruptured packet. However, more than 30 years after the initial report of body packing, there is still no definitive treatment protocol for the management of this patient group. The treatment strategy is determined according to the particular condition of the patient and the clinical experience of the treatment center. Surgical intervention is also less common now, due to both the use of improved packaging materials among smugglers and a shift towards a more conservative medical approach. Herein, we report a case of toxicity from ingested packets of cocaine that leaked and, despite surgery, resulted in exitus of the patient.

A high Ki67 expression seems to be a useful prognostic factor that would aid in predicting disease course in gastrointestinal stromal tumors. These findings deserve further investigation in larger studies.

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Hepatic tuberculosis usually accompanies pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Although isolated hepatic tuberculosis is a very rare condition, it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a hepatic mass. Here, we report a 42-year-old woman presenting with weight loss, fever, night sweats, and a hepatic mass on the abdominal ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Ultrasonography-guided percutaneous needle biopsy demonstrated a caseating granuloma with epithelioid histiocytes and giant cells compatible with the diagnosis of tuberculosis. The patient was treated with four anti-tuberculous drugs for 1 year. She recovered clinically, and her post-treatment abdominal MRI was normal.

BackgroundThe deregulation and localization of the Annexins is consistently reported to have close relation to tumor cell malignancy, invasion, and metastasis as well as clinical progression of tumors. This study aimed to evaluate serum Annexin A2 (Anx A2) levels in patients with colon cancer in comparison to healthy controls and in relation to demographics and tumor pathology.Material/MethodsA total of 100 patients (mean (SD) age: 58 (5.8) years, 55.0% females) with colon cancer and 70 controls (mean (SD) age: 59 (5.4) years, 50.0% females) were included. Serum levels for Anx A2 were evaluated in relation to study group, demographics, and tumor pathology.ResultsSerum levels for Anx A2 were significantly lower in patients with colon cancer than in controls (13.1 (4.5) vs. 22.8 (2.1) ng/mL, p<0.001) and significantly decreased with increase in tumor size (p=0.003), and at higher stages of TNM (p=0.004), tumor invasion (p=0.005), lymph node metastasis (p=0.003), and distant metastasis (p=0.005).ConclusionsOur findings indicate a significant decrease in Anx A2 expression in colon cancer patients compared to healthy controls and in parallel with tumor progression.