Pneumatocele formation following COVID-19 pneumonia. Is there a role for surgical intervention?

2021 ◽  
pp. 021849232110598
Author(s):  
Cameron McCann ◽  
Mohamed Shoeib ◽  
Muhammad Iftikhar Rashid ◽  
Nikos Kostoulas

COVID-19 mainly causes a lower respiratory tract illness, meaning there has been great interest in the chest and lung radiological findings seen during the course of the disease. Most of this interest has centred around the computed tomographic findings. Most commonly, computed tomographic images report ground-glass opacities but a less common finding, and potential complication associated with COVID-19, is pneumatocele formation. In this case series, we describe the presentation and management of three patients with large pneumatoceles that developed during the recovery phase of COVID-19. A conservative approach is most recommended, with surgical intervention reserved for complicated cases that cause cardiorespiratory compromise.

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. A. P. Jayasekera ◽  
O. T. Dale ◽  
R. C. Corbridge

The mortality rate from descending necrotising mediastinitis (DNM) has declined since its first description in 1938. The decline in mortality has been attributed to earlier diagnosis by way of contrast-enhanced computed tomographic (CT) scanning and aggressive surgical intervention in the form of transthoracic drainage. We describe a case of DNM with involvement of anterior and posterior mediastinum down to the diaphragm, managed by cervicotomy and transverse cervical drainage with placement of corrugated drains and a pleural chest drain, with a delayed mediastinoscopy and mediastinal drain placement. We advocate a conservative approach with limited debridement and emphasis on drainage of infection in line with published case series.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 309-314
Author(s):  
John H. Ferguson

: Parapneumonic effusions occur commonly in patients hospitalised with pneumonia. Both complicated parapneumonic effusions and empyema are often managed initially with tube thoracostomy and intrapleural t-PA and DNase. If complete expansion of the lung is not achieved, surgical intervention is considered. We present three cases of patients with complicated parapneumonic effusions who experienced complete recovery despite declining surgical intervention and discuss the pitfalls in management. While very few patients have complete radiological resolution at the time of discharge, medical therapy is successful in at least 90% of cases. At 3-6 months from presentation, the radiological findings may improve significantly with antibiotic therapy. Surgery should be considered for patients with non-resolving sepsis markers including elevated temperature, C-reactive protein, and white blood cell count, in addition to non-improving imaging. Incomplete resolution of the parapneumonic effusion should not be considered a treatment failure, and attempts to normalise CT imaging may result in prolonged hospitalisation and unnecessary surgical intervention.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Satyam Chakraborty

Abstract Pituitary tumours diagnosed incidentally on imaging as sellar-suprasellar masses, often undergo unwarranted Neuro-surgical intervention, often leading to the requirement of life-long post-operative hormone supplementation. Although surgery remains the primary modality in most of the Functional (except Prolactinomas) & Non-Functional Pituitary Macro-Adenomas abutting the Optic Chiasma, Several cases are feed-back adenomas due to untreated Hypothyroidism or Drug- Induced Hyperprolactinemia which require a conservative approach. These Pituitary enlargements may not only be Sellar but also at times extend Supra-sellar mimicking a surgically resctable one. In adolescents they come with a constellation of features like severe short stature & primary Amenorrhea in Females. Noteworthy that these symptoms appear commonly in both groups of surgically resectable masses as well as the secondary pituitary enlargements which need conservative approach, thus often resulting in inadvertent Surgical misadventures. We report 3 cases of Adolescent females referred from peripheral centre to the Neuro-Surgical take of our Institute. Both the females had severe short stature with primary amenorrhea. The imaging characteristics in all the three patients were unique in the sense that they had uniform enlargement of the entire Pituitary extending supra-sellar without any focal hypo-intensities without any obvious mid-line shift of the Pituitary stalk & enhanced uniformly in Post-Contrast studies. We also observed that the upper margin of the masses had a uniform convexity resembling a “DOME”. Thorough Endocrine work-up revealed severe Untreated Hypothyroidism with S.TSH greater then 100micro IU/ml. The patients were treated conservatively with Levo-thyroxine supplementation. The patients had significant Height gain with menarche in the following 4-6 months of Therapy. S.TSH normalized after 2-3 months of therapy. Repeat imaging after 6 months of therapy revealed normal Pituitary architecture without the presence of any focal lesions or enlargement. Feedback Adenomas of the Pituitary have been depicted in the literature. “DOME” shaped Pituitary enlargement seems quite unique to all Pituitary masses which can be treated with conservative means. Pituitary masses should therefore undergo thorough Endocrine intervention before any Neuro-Surgical intervention is contemplated, specifically when the incidentally discovered masses have a “DOME” shaped symmetrical upward convexity on imaging.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayşe Keven ◽  
Adnan Kabaalioğlu ◽  
Emel Durmaz ◽  
Kağan Çeken

Umbilical venous catheters (UVCs) have become a part of routine perinatal care. In the case of its misplacement, extravasation into liver parenchyma might be observed and unusual findings might be detected and a suspicion of tumoral lesions emerges during the ultrasound examination. To avoid the unnecessary liver biopsies and catastrophic complications of UVC misplacement in the pediatric population, clinicians and radiologists must be familiar with the radiological findings. We aimed to present sonographic and computed tomographic images of liver collections resulting from UVC malposition


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Mochamad Targib Alatas

Early surgical treatment for traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) patients has been proven to yield better improvement on neurological state, and widely practiced among surgeons in this field. However, it is not always affordable in every clinical setting. It is undeniable that surgery for chronic SCI has more challenges as the malunion of vertebral bones might have initiated, thus requires more complex operating techniques. In this case series, we report 7 patients with traumatic SCI whose surgical intervention is delayed due to several reasons. Initial motoric scores vary from 0 to 3, all have their interval periods supervised between outpatient clinic visits. On follow up they demonstrate significant neurological development defined by at least 2 grades motoric score improvement. Physical rehabilitation also began before surgery was conducted. These results should encourage surgeons to keep striving for the patient’s best interest, even when the injury has taken place weeks or even months before surgery is feasible because clinical improvement for these patients is not impossible. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 132 (6) ◽  
pp. 1925-1929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Kollmer ◽  
Paul Preisser ◽  
Martin Bendszus ◽  
Henrich Kele

Diagnosis of spontaneous fascicular nerve torsions is difficult and often delayed until surgical exploration is performed. This case series raises awareness of peripheral nerve torsions and will facilitate an earlier diagnosis by using nerve ultrasound (NUS) and magnetic resonance neurography (MRN). Four patients with previously ambiguous upper-extremity mononeuropathies underwent NUS and 3T MRN. Neuroimaging detected proximal torsions of the anterior and posterior interosseous nerve fascicles within median or radial nerve trunks in all patients. In NUS, most cases presented with a thickening of affected nerve fascicles, followed by an abrupt caliber decrease, leading to the pathognomonic sausage-like configuration. MRN showed T2-weighted hyperintense signal alterations of fascicles at and distal to the torsion site, and directly visualized the distorted nerves. Three patients had favorable outcomes after being transferred to emergency surgical intervention, while 1 patient with existing chronic muscle atrophy was no longer eligible for surgery. NUS and MRN are complementary diagnostic methods, and both can detect nerve torsions on a fascicular level. Neuroimaging is indispensable for diagnosing fascicular nerve torsions, and should be applied in all unclear cases of mononeuropathy to determine the diagnosis and if necessary, to guide surgical therapies, as only timely interventions enable favorable outcomes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahine Goulam-Houssein ◽  
Jeffrey L Grenville ◽  
Katerina Mastrocostas ◽  
David G Munoz ◽  
Amy Lin ◽  
...  

IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a multi-organ chronic inflammatory process caused by infiltration of IgG4-positive plasma cells in one or more organs. Intracranial involvement has only recently become better recognized. Our case series adds to the growing literature on the varying presentations of intracranial IgG4 by describing the clinical and imaging findings of three patients who presented to our institution with intracranial involvement. Our first patient presented with a mass-forming IgG4 pachymeningitis mimicking a sphenoid wing meningioma, which is to our knowledge the largest mass-forming pachymeningitis published in the literature. Our second case depicts another presentation of extensive IgG4 pachymeningitis involving both cavernous sinuses and surrounding Meckel’s caves. The third case describes a patient with presumed lymphocytic hypophysitis, which was later determined to be IgG4-related hypophysitis with concomitant pachymeningitis and perineural spread along the optic nerves. The delayed diagnoses in our cases illustrates the diagnostic challenge that clinicians face in differentiating intracranial IgG4-RD from other infiltrative diseases such as sarcoidosis, granulomatous disease, tuberculosis and lymphoma. Earlier consideration of IgG4-related hypophysitis and hypertrophic pachymeningitis in the differential diagnosis can prevent significant morbidity including unnecessary surgical intervention and organ failure secondary to extensive fibrosis.


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