RESUMEN
Duraplasty is one of the most common neurosurgical procedures which complications include iatrogenic pseudomeningocele, which is common, but ossification of pseudomeningocele following cranial surgery is a rare event. We present a case of a 2-year-old male patient who came to our hospital with a huge bulge in his head and weakness in the right arm and leg. He had a history of sagittal craniosynostosis with a postoperative cranioplasty complication of left parital pseudomeningocele. He underwent a duraplasty, but the bulge recurred with failed cerebrospinal fluid aspiration and external ventricular drain, changing in size periodically. Computed tomography showed that the bulge was a median and left paramedian parital encephalocele, so encephalocele with ossification was diagnosed and a cranioplasty was done. This case highlights that iatrogenic encephaloceles with ossification can develop after duraplasty repair in the parital region. Also, if a postoperative pseudomeningocele changes in size or consistency, clinicians should look for ossification.
RESUMEN
Background: congenital pouch colon (CPC) is an extremely rare Congenital gastrointestinal pathology, in which the normal colon is either partially or completely replaced by a pouch-like dilatation communicating with the urogenital tract through a fistula. That's divided into 2 types: Complete CPC and Incomplete CPC. Worldwide and middle east Arabian ethnicity except for Indians, show high scarcity regarding the incidence. Herein, we report a case of incomplete congenital pouch colon syndrome with glandular hypospadias and cardiac anomalies that are considered to be the 2nd documented case in the middle east and the first in Westbank. Case presentation: A 1-day-old newborn boy with prenatal history of abdominal cyst in 2nd trimester US, presented hours after birth with abdominal distention (Fig- 1), in addition to the imperforate anus. The abdominal x-ray showed many dilated bowel loops and gasless soft tissue density with calcifications on the right side (Fig- 2). Exploratory laparotomy was done and showed a pouch-like colon that later on was treated via 2 stages of operation. Clinical discussion: early identification of CPC and differentiation from colon dilatation due to anorectal malformation is essential for the patient's welfare. CPC is more common in males, usually noticed in the neonatal period with abdominal distention, absence of anus, and intestinal obstruction. CPC is managed surgically depending on its type. Conclusion: congenital pouch colon is a rare but important differential diagnosis of abdominal distention, which should always be at the back of the surgeon's mind especially when anorectal malformation is present.
RESUMEN
The coronavirus disease 2019, also called (COVID-19), is an infectious disease which is caused by a virus called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first report was in December 2019, and on March 12, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared this disease a pandemic. COVID-19 targets many major organs causing life-threatening systemic complications. It can cause lung damage and respiratory failure in addition to systemic inflammation and immune dysregulation. Hypercoagulable state and numerous neurological abnormalities also have been reported due to this condition. Going through the literature review, we found some cases of pregnant women with novel coronavirus infection, being mostly mild illnesses, and most of these cases were focused on maternal-fetal transmission and neonatal outcomes. In this case report, we present the case of a COVID-19 positive woman who came to our emergency department at 34 weeks of gestation with tonic-clonic seizures. This case was a challenge for us because we faced a new an unknown manifestation of both COVID and eclampsia.
RESUMEN
Background: Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis are both skin diseases believed to be following the pattern of a type IV hypersensitivity mechanism, which can be triggered by infectious agents or administration of a variety of drugs as part of the spectrum of severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs). Fever and blisters, that peel forming painful raw areas, are early symptoms of this condition, and complications such as dehydration, sepsis, pneumonia, and multiple organ failure are typically seen during the course of the disease. Case Presentation. We present a case of a 23-year-old female patient referred to our hospital after taking carbamazepine and developing high-grade fever and ulcers that appeared initially in her mouth and face but then progressed despite treatment, extending all over her body and involving about 90% of her BSA. Conclusion: The use of IVIG and plasmapheresis was a good management for our case, helping in our patient's well-being and recovery. Even if there is no stipulated guideline treatment for cases of SJS and TEN, we think that further investigations about IVIG and plasmapheresis should be investigated as a possible way to treat both conditions.
RESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Foreign body ingestion is a common pediatric complain, and most can be passed spontaneously; however, magnetic object ingestion is rather rare, and they can cause severe complications when multiple magnets are ingested, as they lead to entrapment of bowel walls between them, causing ischemia, pressure necrosis, perforation, and fistula formation. Case Presentation. Herein, we present a case of a 16-month-old female patient presented to our department complaining of continuous vomiting for two days along with fever and irritability. X-ray revealed dilated bowel loops with a radioopaque foreign body in the right lower quadrant. After discussing with the parents, exploratory laparotomy was done, showing two bowel perforations at the site of the magnets. Affected bowel was resected with anastomosis. The patient was discharged after 3 days with an uneventful recovery. Discussion. The diagnosis and management of magnet ingestion differ from those of small foreign bodies, which are usually managed conservatively by watchful waiting. Usually, the diagnosis is done due to complications such as peritonitis and death. On the other hand, management depends on the number, size, magnetic field, and shape of the magnet, and whether it has passed the pylorus or not. CONCLUSION: It is important to establish the diagnosis of this condition as early as possible to prevent complications. Despite the efforts that were made to try to prevent and minimize the risk of magnet ingestion, more investigations are required to reach a common and united strategy for management of such conditions.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Atypical chronic myeloid leukemia (BCR-ABL1 negative) is a rare myeloid neoplasm with poor prognosis and no current standard of treatment. It features both myelodysplastic and myeloproliferative characteristics with little data regarding mutations playing a role in the disease. PRESENTATION OF CASE: We present a case of a 55-year-old female complaining of fever, cough, general weakness and night sweats. Examinations showed leukocytosis with a left shift, thrombocytopenia, hypercellular bone marrow with marked granulocytic hyperplasia and a negative BCR-ABL. After ruling out myelodysplastic and other myeloproliferative diseases the patient was finally diagnosed as aCML according to the WHO criteria with mutations in the TET2 gene, the NRAS gene and in the KRAS gene. The patient was started on Hydroxyurea for a duration of 9 months with an excellent initial response leading to normalization of her platelets and WBCs. However, in the last month she stopped responding to therapy and her state of health started declining once again. CONCLUSION: Atypical chronic myeloid leukemia (BCR-ABL1 negative with presence of TET2 gene mutation) is an unusual finding in myeloid neoplasms, have unknown prognosis and no current standard of treatment. It features both myelodysplastic and myeloproliferative characteristics with little data regarding mutations playing a role in the disease.
RESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is a rare but serious, life-threatening medical condition and potentially lethal if not detected and treated early. It is mainly caused by a toxin called toxin-1 produced by Staphylococcus aureus, and characterized by fever, hypotension, rash, skin desquamation and multisystem involvement. CASE PRESENTATION: Herein, we describe a nine-month-old male patient who presented to the hospital complaining of fever, vomiting and hypoactivity on day one post-orchidopexy. During hospitalization, his condition began to deteriorate with signs and symptoms of multisystemic failure. Laboratory tests and radiological images were done, leading to the decision to reopen and drain the surgical wound. Wound and nasal swabs were cultured and showed S. aureus infection, and the diagnosis of toxic shock syndrome was confirmed. DISCUSSION: TSS is a systemic illness resulting from overwhelming host response to bacterial exotoxins, that cause T cells activation and the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1 and TNF-α causing fever, hypotension, and tissue injury). Also, it can present with CNS signs that may be misdiagnosed with meningitis in pediatrics. It requires early identification and treatment despite its rarity with mortality rate of 81% even with treatment. The patient's presentation, examination and laboratories tests with the blood and wound cultures were highly suggestive for this condition. CONCLUSION: Physicians must maintain a high index of suspicion for TSS, as early diagnosis and treatment make a difference. This condition shouldn't be excluded even in young age patients or after simple procedure as in our case in which TSS occurred after orchidopexy.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is a condition characterized by an exaggerated immune response (a hypersensitivity response) to the fungus Aspergillus (most commonly Aspergillus fumigatus).ABPA causes airway inflammation that if left untreated can lead to bronchiectasis (an abnormal dilation of the airways) due to the immune system and fungal spores damaging sensitive lung tissues and ultimately leading to scarring. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a case of a 32-year-old female patient who was misdiagnosed with persistent asthma and treated accordingly for several months until a reexamination was done and a diagnosis of ABPA was concluded. Treatment was altered which led to the successful recovery of the patient. CONCLUSION: A reevaluation of the patients' condition was needed to arrive to the correct diagnosis and to put her on the correct treatment as an ABPA patient instead of persistent asthma, concluding that the medical history and physical examination are both of vital significance to stipulate a correct diagnosis.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Transverse myelitis is a rare spinal cord inflammation with absence of a compression. It varies in presentation based on the pathology location, and mainly causes a combined deficit of motor, sensory, and autonomic functions. History, physical examination, and other diagnostic tests including blood tests and an MRI are important tools to establish a diagnosis.A thorough neurological evaluation helps localize the affected region of the spinal cord. The management includes rehabilitation as any other spinal cord injury. If very severe, a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program will be required. PRESENTATION: We explain a case in which a 43-year-old male patient, known to have chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), on Imatinib (a tyrosine kinase inhibitor), started complaining of back pain at the level of the 10th rib. Different tests were made including a PET-CT (Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography) which showed hypermetabolic bony lytic lesion in the left mandible at the level of temporomandibular joint, destruction of the 10th rib, and no evidence of spinal cord compression. Other etiologies were excluded, making transverse myelitis due to radiation for the patient's CML on top of the differential diagnosis. CONCLUSION: A thorough physical examination and diagnostic tests are important tools to exclude other etiologies of complex neurological deficit in a patient with CML.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a chronic myeloproliferative disease characterized by a massive overproduction of myeloid cells. It is associated with the Philadelphia chromosome [Ph1, t (9; 22) (q34; q11)] or BCR-ABL fusion gene. CML usually undergoes a triphasic clinical course ending in a blast crisis, an accelerated phase of blasts and promyelocyte production. Ten percent of CML patients reach the blast crisis phase, with 20-30% of leukemias belonging to B-cell lymphoid lineage. However, a transformation of CML into T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is rare. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a 56-year-old male patient, known case of hypertension and Ph1 CML of eight years with a family history of Gaucher disease who developed T-ALL. The patient presented with lymphadenopathy and severe anemia, needing packed RBC transfusion, neutropenia and thrombocytopenia at the admission. However, the monocytes and basophils percentage were high. The patient underwent a cervical lymph node core biopsy, and the immunohistochemistry stains showed an invasion of neoplastic cells positive for CD3, CD5, BCL2, CD34, TdT and focally positive for C-Kit and negative for CD20, CD56 and pan-CK. These histopathology features were consistent with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). CONCLUSION: Blast crisis remain a challenge in CML management. It's of great importance to do a full proper workup including lymph nodes biopsies. The aim is to reverse blast crisis and restore the chronic phase.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Myasthenia gravis is an organ specific autoimmune disorder that is potentially serious but treatable. It is characterized by fatigability of the voluntary muscles and weakness caused by antibodies against the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) on the postsynaptic membrane at the neuromuscular junction.Sometimes, and in very rare cases, it can be associated with other autoimmune conditions in a so called autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type 2, which consists mainly of autoimmune adrenal insufficiency (Addison's disease) with autoimmune thyroid disease and/or type 1 diabetes mellitus. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe a case of a 47-year-old male patient presenting with weakness, difficulty swallowing (mainly liquids) and dysarthria. He was discovered to have low cortisol and TSH levels with high T4 and T3. These findings lead to the suspicion of a more complex disease process and through a thorough research of literature we discovered an association between myasthenia gravis and autoimmune polyglandular syndrome specifically type 2 which fits with our patients' presentation. CONCLUSION: In any autoimmune disease, it is important to keep in mind associations and susceptibilities to other autoimmune processes and syndromes in order to reach a correct diagnosis and treatment preventing life threating events.
RESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy has been confirmed as the least invasive and the most widely used treatment for kidney and ureteral stones. However, as with any other type of therapy, potential complications do exist. CASE PRESENTATION: Herein, we describe a 55-year-old male patient who developed symptoms of acute pancreatitis one day after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy for left renal stones. The patient used to manage himself with NSAIDs till he presented to the emergency department with severe epigastric pain and tenderness due to giant pancreatic pseudocyst formation. The pseudocyst was treated by endoscopic cystogastrostomy using metallic stent with uneventful recovery. In addition, we extensively reviewed all available literature studies of pancreatitis and pancreatic pseudocyst occurring after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. We summarized all reported cases and presented them in a comprehensive table. DISCUSSION: Post ESWL acute pancreatitis is a rare clinical entity with only 11 reported cases. In all cases, abdominal pain was the most common symptom that occurs in less than 24h following ESWL treatment. So it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute abdominal pain after ESWL. CONCLUSION: Although ESWL is generally considered safe and effective treatment; however, major complications have been reported to occur in less than 1% of patients. One of the extremely rare complications is the development of pancreatitis and pancreatic pseudocyst.
RESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Cerebellar liponeurocytoma is a rare tumor of the central nervous system occurring mainly in the posterior fossa, which shows neuronal and variable astrocytic differentiation, along with foci of lipomatous differentiation. CASE PRESENTATION: Herein, we describe a 50-year-old female patient who presented to the hospital complaining of headache, tinnitus, and vertigo with positive cerebellar signs. MRI revealed a left cerebellar tumor. After tumor resection, histological examination and immunohistochemistry were done and the diagnosis of cerebellar liponeurocytoma was confirmed. DISCUSSION: Liponeurocytoma may be mistaken as a medulloblastoma with lipidized cells or a lipomatous ependymoma. Histopathological examination, reinforced by immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy, are required to distinguish between these entities. The rarity of this tumor and paucity of pertinent information regarding its biological potential and natural history have resulted in the application of various treatment modalities. CONCLUSION: Liponeurocytoma is a rare benign tumor with cerebellum is the typical site for it. Although surgery is the treatment of choice; however, postoperative radiotherapy may have a role in case of incomplete tumor resection or recurrence.
RESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Intramural cecal hematomas are rarely encountered clinical entities with only 14 cases reported in our literature. It is usually reported after blunt external trauma, endoscopy-related trauma, coagulopathies, and occasionally spontaneous. Most cases presented acutely after primary insult; however, a delayed presentation rarely can occur. CASE PRESENTATION: Herein we describe an 8-year-old male patient who presented to the emergency department with an appendicitis-like picture six weeks after a history of falling. Intraoperatively, the patient was found to have a normal appendix. However, a large intramural cecal hematoma contains black blood with many clots was found. The patient was treated by hematoma evacuation with preservation of the cecum and colon and he was discharged with uneventful recovery. During two years follow up there was no history of complications or recurrence. DISCUSSION: Intramural cecal hematoma could be presented with various symptoms that range from mild abdominal pain to severe abdominal pain with vomiting, intestinal obstruction, bowel perforation, and hemoperitoneum. Diagnosis is challenging, and CT scan is the key for diagnosis. Although Conservative therapy is the first-line treatment; however, surgery still has a role in selected cases. CONCLUSION: The authors report the first case of cecal hematomas with a delayed presentation. The optimal treatment should be individualized according to different etiologies, the patient's stability, and the presence of complications.
RESUMEN
Gastroschisis is a ventral abdominal wall congenital defect with bowel herniation outside the abdominal cavity. Gastroschisis traditional management is the primary operative closure surgery (POCS), but the sutureless silo approach (SSA), a novel alternative, gains wide acceptance in the developed countries and across nations. This study describes the first-ever gastroschisis patient managed with the sutureless silo approach in Palestine. In addition, we shall use this case as the very first nucleus for the upcoming gastroschisis management in our referral hospital because the SSA yields a reduced hospital stay which is fundamental to our institution due to the limited number of beds and lower management costs to the hospital and families.