Project description:KEY TEACHING POINTS • We describe a 45-year-old woman with GATA2 deficiency associated with verrucae, lymphedema, immunodeficiency, and a history of infections and skin cancer. • GATA2 deficiency has variable clinical expressivity with differing presentations, including infection, hematopoietic abnormalities, immunodeficiency, lymphedema, and cancer. • Cutaneous manifestations include verruca vulgaris, soft tissue infections, lymphedema, and panniculitis. • Patients may have verrucae that can progress to squamous cell carcinomas; dermatologists therefore play an important role in managing these patients as members of a multidisciplinary team.
Project description:BACKGROUND:To analyse structured and free text reports of shoulder X-ray examinations evaluating the quality of reports and potential contributions to clinical decision-making. METHODS:We acquired both standard free text and structured reports of 31 patients with a painful shoulder without history of previous trauma who received X-ray exams. A template was created for the structured report based on the template ID 0000154 (Shoulder X-ray) from radreport.org using online software with clickable decision trees with concomitant generation of structured semantic reports. All reports were evaluated regarding overall quality and key features: content, information extraction and clinical relevance. RESULTS:Two experienced orthopaedic surgeons reviewed and rated structured and free text reports of 31 patients independently. The structured reports achieved significantly higher median ratings in all key features evaluated (P?<?0.001), including facilitation of information extraction (P?<?0.001) and better contribution to subsequent clinical decision-making (P?<?0.001). The overall quality of structured reports was significantly higher than in free text report (P?<?0.001). CONCLUSIONS:A comprehensive structured template may be a useful tool to assist in clinical decision-making and is, thus, recommended for the reporting of degenerative changes regarding X-ray examinations of the shoulder.
Project description:Background: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common childhood cancer diagnosed in the United States. The disease causes a decrease in hematopoiesis, so children often present with symptoms related to anemia, thrombocytopenia, and leukopenia. Symptoms for this malignancy may have significant overlap with other conditions such as osteomyelitis. Case Report: A 2-year-old male with no significant medical history presented with lower extremity pain and fever. Initial investigations, including imaging and complete blood count, led physicians to diagnose bilateral osteomyelitis. The patient was prescribed a course of antibiotics; however, his symptoms returned. Eventually, a bone marrow aspiration showed CD99 membrane-positive small round blue cell tumors. The patient was diagnosed with ALL. He was successfully treated with chemotherapy and is now in remission. Conclusion: This case demonstrates the importance of a broad differential diagnosis for a child presenting with leg pain and fever.
Project description:BackgroundPrior studies have suggested that patient-rated hand function is impacted by depression and pain catastrophization. We studied the impact that these comorbidities have on treatment outcomes.MethodsTwo hundred and fifty-six patients presenting to an orthopaedic hand clinic were followed in this prospective cohort investigation. Patients who were prescribed treatment for atraumatic hand/wrist conditions were eligible for inclusion. At enrollment, all patients completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale, the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), and the Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire (MHQ; scale of 0 to 100, with 100 indicating the best hand performance). One month and three months after treatment, patients again completed the MHQ. Participants' psychological comorbidity status was categorized as either affected (a CES-D score of ?16, indicating depression, or a PCS score of ?30, indicating catastrophization) or unaffected (a CES-D score of <16 and a PCS score of <30). Diagnoses and treatments for both the affected and unaffected groups were examined. The effect of time and patient status, and their interaction, on MHQ scores was evaluated by mixed modeling.ResultsFifty patients were categorized as affected and 206 as unaffected. Diagnoses and treatments differed minimally between the two groups. At the time of enrollment, the mean MHQ score of the unaffected group (64.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 62.5 to 67.3) was significantly higher than that of the affected group (48.1; 95% CI, 43.3 to 53.0). Both groups demonstrated similar significant absolute improvement over baseline at three months after treatment (an increase of 12.5 points [95% CI, 7.5 to 17.4] in the affected group and 12.8 points [95% CI, 10.4 to 15.3] in the unaffected group). Thus, at the time of final follow-up, the rating of hand function by the affected patients (60.6 [95% CI, 55.0 to 66.2]) was still significantly poorer than the rating by the unaffected patients (77.7 [95% CI, 75.0 to 80.5]).ConclusionsAlthough patients affected by depression and/or pain catastrophization reported worse self-rated hand function at baseline and at the time of follow-up, these patients showed similar absolute improvement in self-rated hand function following treatment compared with patients with unaffected status.Level of evidencePrognostic Level I. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Project description:Exercise related leg pain (ERLP) is a regional pain syndrome described as pain between the knee and ankle which occurs with exercise. Indiscriminant use of terminology such as "shin splints" has resulted in ongoing confusion regarding the pathoanatomic entities associated with this pain syndrome. Each of the pathoanatomic entities - medial tibial stress syndrome, chronic exertional compartment syndrome, tibial and fibular stress fractures, tendinopathy, nerve entrapment, and vascular pathology - which manifest as ERLP are each described in terms of relevant anatomy, epidemiology, clinical presentation, associated pathomechanics, and intervention strategies. Evidence regarding risk factors for ERLP general and specific pathoanatomic entities are presented in the context of models of sports injury prevention.
Project description:Intra-leiomyoma hemorrhage in postmenopausal woman is a very rare complication. This case report represents a case report of spontaneous hemorrhage inside the uterine leiomyoma in postmenopausal woman who presented with acute abdomen. A 55-year-old woman, multipara, postmenopausal for 7 years, known case of multiple fibroid uteruses, was presented to the emergency department of Ahmadi Hospital, Kuwait Oil Company, with acute abdominal pain and vomiting, without any reported trauma and/or associated vaginal bleeding. The studied woman was generally stable regarding her vital signs, her hemoglobin dropped from 12 to 10.2 g/dl. Abdominal examination revealed; palpable pelvi-abdominal mass firms in consistency with tenderness and guarding which provisionally support the diagnosis of degenerated fibroids or intra-leiomyoma hemorrhage. The diagnosis was confirmed by basic pelvi-abdominal ultrasound, followed by correction of the patient's general condition and total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophrectomy (TAHBSO). Bisected largest cystic fibroid showed brownish serous fluid inside with organized clotted hematoma which confirmed the diagnosis of intra-leiomyoma hemorrhage. Postoperatively, the studied woman received an unit of packed red blood cells for correction of the postoperative anemia and discharged from the hospital in good general condition for postoperative follow-up in the outpatients' department on iron tablets. This case report represents a rare complication of intra-leiomyoma hemorrhage in postmenopausal, diagnosed by the basic clinical and ultrasound findings. The case was managed by TAHBSO after correction of the general condition because of the increased risk of the sarcomatous changes of the uterine fibroid in postmenopausal women.
Project description:We present an interesting case of a 38-year-old woman who presented with a history of left-sided chest pain, dyspnoea and palpitations. The symptoms have been occurring since age 18, and were previously diagnosed as costochondritis. Because of the suspicious history, the patient underwent further cardiac investigations. The echocardiogram demonstrated an abnormal structure adjacent to the aortic valve. A diagnostic coronary angiogram revealed a large left circumflex artery fistulating into the right atrium. Surgery was performed to ligate the fistula. The patient recovered well and has been asymptomatic since.
Project description:BackgroundAthletes with chronic lower leg pain present a diagnostic challenge for clinicians due to the differential diagnoses that must be considered.Purpose/questionsWe aimed to review the literature for studies on the diagnosis and management of chronic lower leg pain in athletes.MethodsA literature review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). The PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane library databases were searched, and articles that examined chronic lower leg pain in athletes were considered for review. Two independent reviewers conducted the search utilizing pertinent Boolean operations.ResultsFollowing two independent database searches, 275 articles were considered for initial review. After the inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, 88 were included in the final review. These studies show that the most common causes of lower leg pain in athletes include medial tibial stress syndrome, chronic exertional compartment syndrome, tibial stress fractures, nerve entrapments, lower leg tendinopathies, and popliteal artery entrapment syndrome. Less frequently encountered causes include saphenous nerve entrapment and tendinopathy of the popliteus. Conservative management is the mainstay of care for the majority of cases of chronic lower leg pain; however, surgical intervention may be necessary.ConclusionsMultiple conditions may result in lower leg pain in athletes. A focused clinical history and physical examination supplemented with appropriate imaging studies can guide clinicians in diagnosis and management. We provide a table to aid in the differential diagnosis of chronic leg pain in the athlete.
Project description:BackgroundFew studies have quantified clinical improvement following minimally invasive lumbar decompression based on predominant back pain or leg pain.PurposeTo quantify improvement in patient-reported outcomes following minimally invasive lumbar decompression and determine the degree of improvement in back pain, leg pain, and disability in patients who present with predominant back pain or predominant leg pain.MethodsPatients who underwent primary, one-level minimally invasive lumbar decompression for degenerative pathology were retrospectively reviewed. Comparisons of visual analog scale (VAS) back and leg pain scores, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores, and Short Form-12 (SF-12) mental and physical component scores from pre-operative to 6-week, 12-week, 6-month, and 1-year follow-up. Subgroup analyses were performed for patients with predominant back pain or predominant leg pain.ResultsA total of 102 patients were identified. Scores on VAS back and leg pain, ODI, and SF-12 physical component improved from pre-operative to all post-operative time points. After 1 year, patients reported a 2.8-point (47%) reduction in back pain and a 4-point (61.1%) reduction in leg pain scores; 52 patients with predominant back pain and 50 patients with predominant leg pain reported reductions in pain throughout the year following surgery. In both the back and leg pain cohorts, patients experienced reductions in ODI during the first 6 months and throughout 1-year follow-up, respectively. The majority of patients achieved minimum clinically important difference, regardless of predominant symptom.ConclusionsPatients reported improvements in back and leg pain following minimally invasive lumbar decompression regardless of predominant presenting symptom; however, patients with predominant leg pain may experience greater improvement than those with predominant back pain.