Fulminant varicella hepatitis: a rare but lethal cause of abdominal pain

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. e244081
Author(s):  
Christopher Fang ◽  
Junice Wong ◽  
Wei Wen Ang

An 81-year-old woman with no history of immunocompromise presented with 2 days of upper abdominal pain associated with nausea. On arrival, her physical examination was unremarkable apart from mild epigastric and right hypochondriac tenderness, and laboratory investigations were unremarkable apart from mild thrombocytopenia and transaminitis. A CT scan performed on the day of admission revealed a tiny 0.3 cm stone in the common bile duct, with no upstream dilatation. On day 2 of admission, she developed a vesicular rash and with acutely worsening transaminitis. She deteriorated rapidly and demised from complications of acute liver failure within the next 24 hours. The diagnosis of varicella was confirmed with antibody testing. Fulminant varicella hepatitis is an extremely rare and lethal condition with only a handful of reported cases in the current literature. We aim to share our clinical experience and summarise the salient points from existing case reports.

2021 ◽  
pp. 014556132110060
Author(s):  
Jérôme R. Lechien ◽  
Rémi Hervochon ◽  
Stéphane Hans

A 42-year-old man was referred for a week history of severe dysphagia, odynophagia, fever (39 °C), fatigue, abdominal pain, pharyngeal swelling, and multiple neck lymphadenopathies. The medical history reported a mild form of COVID-19 one month ago. The biology reported an unspecified inflammatory syndrome. The patient developed peritonitis, myocarditis, and hepatitis. A myocardium biopsy was performed. A diagnosis of Kawasaki-like disease (KLD) was performed. The occurrence of KLD in adults is rare but has to be known by otolaryngologists regarding the otolaryngological clinical presentation that may precede the multiple organ failure.


2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-212
Author(s):  
Md Zakirul Alam ◽  
Mohibul Aziz

A 19 years old married female presented with severe upper abdominal pain, repeated vomiting having history of swallowing a knife 7 months ago was admitted in Mordern Clinic and Diagnostic center, Joypurhat, Bangladesh. USG abdomen & X-ray (fig-1) abdomen were done when presence of a large foreign body (knife fig-3) in abdomen was made which latter on confirmed by Endoscopy of upper GIT (fig-2). Surprisingly the patient kept it in her abdomen for 7 months without any symptoms until the symptoms got worse and compelled her to seek medical help. The knife was removed by laparotomy, gastrotomy with uneventful recovery.Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.14(2) 2015 p.210-212


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omar Nadhem ◽  
Omar Salh

Acute pancreatitis is an important cause of acute upper abdominal pain. Because its clinical features are similar to a number of other acute illnesses, it is difficult to make a diagnosis only on the basis of symptoms and signs. The diagnosis of acute pancreatitis is based on 2 of the following 3 criteria: (1) abdominal pain consistent with pancreatitis, (2) serum lipase and/or amylase ≥3 times the upper limit of normal, and (3) characteristic findings from abdominal imaging. The sensitivity and specificity of lipase in diagnosing acute pancreatitis are undisputed. However, normal lipase level should not exclude a pancreatitis diagnosis. In patients with atypical pancreatitis presentation, imaging is needed. We experienced two cases of acute pancreatitis associated with normal serum enzyme levels. Both patients were diagnosed based on clinical and radiological evidence. They were successfully treated with intravenous fluids and analgesics with clinical and laboratory improvement. The importance of this case series is the unlikely presentation of acute pancreatitis. We believe that more research is needed to determine the exact proportion of acute pancreatitis patients who first present with normal serum lipase, since similar cases have been seen in case reports.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Giulia Frauenfelder ◽  
Annamaria Maraziti ◽  
Vincenzo Ciccone ◽  
Giuliano Maraziti ◽  
Oliviero Caleo ◽  
...  

Lemmel syndrome is a rare and misdiagnosed cause of acute abdominal pain due to a juxtapapillary duodenal diverticulum causing mechanical obstruction of the common bile duct. Frequently, patients suffering from Lemmel syndrome have a history of recurrent access to the emergency room for acute abdominal pain referable to a biliopancreatic obstruction, in the absence of lithiasis nuclei or solid lesions at radiological examinations. Ultrasonography (US) may be helpful in evaluation of upstream dilatation of extra-/intra-hepatic biliary duct, but computed tomography (CT) is the reference imaging modality for the diagnosis of periampullary duodenal diverticula compressing the intrapancreatic portion of the common bile duct. Recognition of this entity is crucial for targeted, timely therapy avoiding mismanagement and therapeutic delay. The aim of this paper is to report CT imaging findings and our experience in two patients affected by Lemmel syndrome.


1970 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
AS Khan ◽  
B Bhowmik ◽  
HAN Hakim ◽  
MA Islam

Objectives: History of ascariasis is very old. One quarter of the world's population is known to be infected by ascariasis. It is endemic in various parts of Bangladesh. We aimed to study the various types of clinical presentations, complications and different diagnostic tools and to assess various options for the management of biliary ascariasis. Materials and Methods: Ninty eight cases of hepatobiliary ascariasis were studied over a period of 2 years (April 03 - April 05). All the patients were aged between 12 and 73 years and all were admitted with acute right upper abdominal pain. Ultrasound was the diagnostic tool of choice with 100% results. Results: In this study, biliary ascariasis was found to be more common in females 64.29% (64 patients). The most common presentation was upper abdominal pain in 100% of the patients (98 patients). Complications observed were obstructive jaundice in 08.16% (8 patients), cholangitis in 74.49% (73 patients). History of worm emesis was present in 21.42% (21 patients). Conservative management was successful in 96.94% (95 patients). During follow-up, worm reinvasion of the biliary system occurred in 7.1% (three patients). Conclusion: In endemic countries, biliary ascariasis should be suspected in patients with biliary disease. Most of the patients respond to conservative management. Keywords: Acute upper abdominal pain; biliary ascariasis; Ultrasonography DOI: 10.3329/jdmc.v19i1.6247 J Dhaka Med Coll. 2010; 19(1) : 25-28.


2014 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-2 ◽  
Author(s):  
V Pronisceva ◽  
J Sebastian ◽  
S Joseph ◽  
E Sharp

A 42-year-old female teetotaller presented via the accident and emergency department with a 2-day history of vomiting and upper abdominal pain. She was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis. The aetiology of the pancreatitis was identified as hypercalcaemia secondary to oral calcium supplementation. The hypercalcaemia was corrected by stopping calcium supplements and aggressive fluid resuscitation. A thorough literature search did not show any case reports in which the aetiology of pancreatitis was oral calcium supplement over-replacement.


Author(s):  
Asma Elkarouachi ◽  
Ahmed Ballati ◽  
Mohamed Asmar ◽  
Saad Rifki El Jai ◽  
Rachid Boufettal ◽  
...  

This article focuses on the symptomatic and diagnostic problems of primary duodenal adenocarcinoma by way of two case reports and a literature review.The diagnosis of primary duodenal adenocarcinoma is often delayed because its symptoms may be absent until the tumor has progressed, thus leading to a delay of several months. Patients typically present with a long history of variable and vague symptoms, and many are diagnosed with advanced disease. As regards clinical manifestations, abdominal pain is the most frequent symptom. The majority of these tumors are found to have infiltrated the duodenal wall at presentation, with many being unresectable due to local and distal invasion.


2009 ◽  
Vol 6;12 (6;12) ◽  
pp. 1001-1003
Author(s):  
Scott Pello

Introduction: Neurolytic celiac plexus block is a well established intervention to palliate pain, and it potentially improves quality of life in patients suffering from an upper abdominal malignancy, specifically pancreatic cancer. Methods: We describe a 61-year-old female with a history of pancreatic cancer, unexplained transfusion dependent anemia with a normal recent upper endoscopy, and abdominal pain, who had previously undergone gastrojejunostomy and a Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy as well as chemotherapy and radiation therapy. She suffered from intractable abdominal pain and elected to undergo palliative celiac plexus neurolysis. Results: The patient initially appeared to tolerate celiac plexus block well, however, 45 minutes after the procedure, the patient had bright red blood per rectum followed by bloody diarrhea. Her abdomen was soft and non-tender with minimal distention and positive bowel sounds. The patient’s hemoglobin decreased to 7.5 g/dl from 9.0 g/dl, and she received a blood transfusion. Upper endoscopy and enteroscopy demonstrated diffuse hemorrhagic gastritis and duodenitis. The bleeding was controlled and the patient remained hemodynamically stable. Ultimately, the patient did well and was discharged home. Discussion: We report a case of a patient with known history of gastritis and duodenitis, who developed severe upper GI bleeding immediately following the celiac plexus neurolysis. There are no published reports documenting similar cases. It is difficult to offer a precise physiologic explanation for this complication. However, we speculate that inhibition of sympathetic tone from the celiac plexus neurolysis caused increased blood flow to the GI system, and this resulted in active bleeding from previously indolent hemorrhagic gastritis and duodenitis. Conclusion: It may be beneficial for patients with a history of gastritis, duodenitis or GI bleeding to undergo a careful upper GI evaluation prior to celiac plexus neurolysis. Key words: Case report, pancreatic cancer, celiac plexus neurolysis, anemia, hemorrhagic gastritis and doudenitis, sympathetic block


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 1653
Author(s):  
Ashish Arsia ◽  
Priya Hazrah ◽  
Shabab Anwar ◽  
Shaji Thomas ◽  
Pooja Abbey ◽  
...  

Primary nodal gastrinoma is a rare entity and the diagnosis is often contemplative when no other non - nodal primary site can be identified despite thorough investigations and operative exploration. Here we report one such case wherein a primary nodal gastrinoma was diagnosed as an entity of exclusion. Additionally, the location of the disease outside the confines of the conventional gastrinoma triangle further contributes to the rarity of the presentation. A young male patient had presented to us with history of multiple operations in the past for recurrent upper abdominal pain presumably consequential to peptic ulcer disease viz a trucal vagotomy and gastrojejunostomy, duodenal ulcer perforation surgery and a cholecystectomy. CT scan and endoscopic USG showed a preaortic calcified node located outside the limits of the gastrinoma triangle. A raised serum gastrin level and an endoscopic guided FNAC confirmed the diagnosis of a gastrinoma. A 68 Ga-DOTANOC PET CT revealed an exclusive nodal uptake with no discenable primary lesion. Normalization of gastrin levels after removal of the involved pre-aortic node further pointed to the diagnosis of primary nodal gastrinoma. A high index of clinical suspicion is warranted especially in a history of multiple surgeries for recurrent upper abdominal pain and location of the lesion outside the confines of the ‘Gastrinoma Triangle’ should not be deterrent for the diagnosis.


Author(s):  
Eric Mull ◽  
Brooke Gustafson ◽  
Brent Adler ◽  
Katelyn Krivchenia

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a disabling and potentially lethal syndrome requiring prompt recognition and urgent interventions to prevent morbidity and mortality[1]. Although constipation is not generally recognized as a cause for ARDS or usually listed within the differential diagnosis, there have been case reports describing such an association[2,3]. We present the case of a patient with history of intermittent constipation presenting with progressive abdominal pain and an acute abdomen that required emergent surgical fecal decompaction. This was followed by hypoxemic respiratory distress leading to respiratory failure in the setting of severe constipation and aspirated feculent material. To our knowledge, this is the first published case report describing aspirated feculent material in a child with respiratory failure due to ARDS.


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