scholarly journals Use of low-molecular-weight heparin in severe paraquat poisoning: a case report

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria A. Montoya-Giraldo ◽  
Luisa F. Díaz ◽  
Ubier E. Gómez ◽  
Juliana Quintero ◽  
Andres F. Zuluaga

Abstract Background Acute paraquat ingestion remains a leading cause of mortality in developing countries. There is currently no evidence that treatment with high-dose immunosuppressants and antioxidants improves survival in patients with paraquat poisoning, and better options are urgently needed. Here, we describe the unexpected survival and recovery of a patient with a potentially fatal paraquat poisoning. Case presentation After ingesting 28 mL of paraquat (20% ion w/v), confirmed by a deep blue color in the urine dithionite test (UDT), a 17-year-old Hispanic Colombian boy was treated according to the hospital protocol with cyclophosphamide, methylprednisolone, N-acetylcysteine, vitamin E and propranolol. Gastrointestinal endoscopy showed extensive ulceration and necrosis. As a novelty, enoxaparin at a single dose of 60 mg was added to his treatment. Despite the evidence of severe mucosal burns in the gastrointestinal tract and high paraquat concentrations found in the UDT, the clinical condition began to improve after 1 day of treatment, with full recovery and discharge from hospital after 21 days. Conclusions Although the amount of paraquat ingested by the patient was large and the UDT indicated severe poisoning with a somber prognosis, unexpected survival of the patient was observed, and the addition of enoxaparin was the only change from the standard treatment.

1992 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.H. Perriëns ◽  
S. Benimadho ◽  
I. Lie Kiauw ◽  
J. Wisse ◽  
H. Chee

Between March 1986 and March 1988, 47 consecutive patients, whose paraquat intoxication was confirmed by urine testing, were enrolled in a prospective study on the treatment of paraquat poisoning. Fourteen received a standard treatment regimen consisting of fluid replacement and oral absorbents, and 33 received high-dose cyclophosphamide and dexamethasone, in addition to standard therapy. The case fatality rate in both treatment groups (63 and 61%) was similar. In addition, all 26 patients whose paraquat serum concentrations were measured and who had a probability of survival of less than 65% according the survival curve of Hart et al. died, regardless of therapy. These included four in the cyclophosphamide/dexamethasone group and two in the standard treatment group who had prior survival probabilities between 50 and 65%. This indicated that the cut-off curve relating mortality and paraquat serum concentrations was similar in both treatment groups. High-dose cyclophosphamide/dexamethasone treatment is unlikely to improve the prognosis of paraquat poisoning.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Badrul Islam ◽  
Mohiuddin Ahmed ◽  
Zhahirul Islam ◽  
S. M. Begum

Abstract Background SARS-CoV2 virus could be potentially myopathic. Serum creatinine phosphokinase (CPK) is frequently found elevated in severe SARS-CoV2 infection, which indicates skeletal muscle damage precipitating limb weakness or even ventilatory failure. Case presentation We addressed such a patient in his forties presented with features of severe SARS-CoV2 pneumonia and high serum CPK. He developed severe sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and received intravenous high dose corticosteroid and tocilizumab to counter SARS-CoV2 associated cytokine surge. After 10 days of mechanical ventilation (MV), weaning was unsuccessful albeit apparently clear lung fields, having additionally severe and symmetric limb muscle weakness. Ancillary investigations in addition with serum CPK, including electromyogram, muscle biopsy, and muscle magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) suggested acute myopathy possibly due to skeletal myositis. Conclusion We wish to stress that myopathogenic medication in SARS-CoV2 pneumonia should be used with caution. Additionally, serum CPK could be a potential marker to predict respiratory failure in SARS-CoV2 pneumonia as skeletal myopathy affecting chest muscles may contribute ventilatory failure on top of oxygenation failure due to SARS-CoV2 pneumonia.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunsil Koh ◽  
Noeul Kang ◽  
Jin-Young Lee ◽  
Duk-Kyung Kim ◽  
Young Soo Do ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) is a systemic necrotizing vasculitis mainly affecting small-sized arteries. Involvement of medium-sized vessels is very rare in EGPA. Here we present the case of a patient with EGPA who showed multiple hepatic aneurysms and distal gangrene. Case presentation A known EGPA patient visited to the emergency room (ER) with abrupt squeezing abdominal pain. She had suffered from gangrene in the fingertips of both hands for 1 year because of arterial thrombosis associated with hypereosinophilia. However, her absolute eosinophil count in the ER was 1120 cells/µL. An abdomen-pelvis CT demonstrated subcapsular hematoma in the right hepatic lobe. A celiac angiogram demonstrated multiple sized aneurysms in both hepatic lobes and some aneurysms in S7 and S8 were huge, more than 1 cm in size. The shape of the small aneurysms resembled a string of beads, as in polyarteritis nodosa. Given the clinical situation, emergency embolization was performed. Before this patient visited to the ER, she had been treated with a high dose of systemic corticosteroid, azathioprine, and cyclophosphamide. After addition of mepolizumab, the eosinophil count remained stable state with a near zero percentage of total white blood cell count. Conclusions Aneurysm and gangrene resulting from the involvement of medium-sized vessels can occur in EGPA. Destruction of vessels might occur even if eosinophil count is below 1500 cells/µL. If involvement of medium-sized arteries is suspected, thorough investigation to identify the involved organs and prompt management are needed to prevent fatal complications.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (28_suppl) ◽  
pp. 257-257
Author(s):  
Caroline Jones ◽  
David Riley ◽  
Amy Morris ◽  
Jeremy Michael Sen ◽  
Alana Ferrari ◽  
...  

257 Background: For patients receiving high dose cytarabine (HiDAC) at University of Virginia (UVA) Health between 10/2019 and 10/2020, median length of stay (LOS) from time of clinic appointment to hospital discharge was 119.35 hours. Standard treatment time should be 112 hours from premedication to end of chemotherapy. There are no national standards for duration of inpatient stay for planned chemotherapy, but only 50% of these patients were discharged after noon (over 3 hours post-chemotherapy completion). LOS that extends beyond the standard treatment time results in increased cost, overutilization of hospital resources, delayed admissions for future patients, and patient dissatisfaction. Methods: A multidisciplinary team comprised of licensed providers, pharmacists, and nurses was formed. The team focused on percentage of patients discharged by noon as a surrogate marker for LOS due to inconsistency of admission times; the aim was to increase patients discharged by noon to 65%. Reviewing the baseline data revealed an unstable process with a 3-sigma X-bar statistical process control chart. The team developed current and ideal process state maps, a Pareto chart, and a priority matrix to determine an action plan. The most common identified causes for delay in discharge included: lack of standardized discharge checklist, discharge order placed after 10 am, medications dispensed from the outpatient pharmacy after 11 am, licensed providers not prioritizing discharge patients, and medication reconciliation not completed prior to day of discharge. Results: From 10/2020 to 5/2021, the first PDSA cycle focused on standardizing the discharge process to correct the instability in the process. A discharge checklist was created based on the ideal process map, which allowed the providers to have a consistent process at discharge. 3-sigma Xbar chart demonstrated a now stable process and an increase of patients discharged by noon to 58%. During the second PDSA cycle starting in 6/2021, providers completed medication reconciliation the day before discharge, prioritized HiDAC discharges first during rounds, and ensured discharge orders were placed by completion of the last chemotherapy bag. Data collection is ongoing, and will be analyzed by August 2021. Future tests of change are planned to focus on the pharmacy medication delivery service. Hospital LOS has also decreased after the first PDSA cycle. Conclusions: Using quality improvement methodology, a multidisciplinary team developed an action plan for patients receiving HiDAC which to date has increased the percentage of patients discharging by noon and decreased length of stay. This outcome may lead to reduce hospitalization costs and increase bed availability for other oncology patients. Further PDSA cycles are scheduled and continuous evaluation of the process is ongoing.


Author(s):  
Shunlin Hu ◽  
Chuanhu Qiao ◽  
Zhengli Yuan ◽  
Min� Li ◽  
Jiangfeng Ye ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-88
Author(s):  
Thomas-Michael Schneider ◽  
Friederike Klenner ◽  
Franz Brettner

Abstract Background: Newly approved immunotherapeutic agents, like CTLA-4 inhibitors and antibodies against PD-1, are a promising therapeutic option in cancer therapy. Case presentation: A 74-year-old man, with a history of advanced stage melanoma and treatment with ipilimumab, pembrolizumab and nivolumab, was admitted to the hospital due to respiratory failure with hypoxemia and dyspnoea. He rapidly developed severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which required treatment in the intensive care unit which included mechanical ventilation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Computed tomographic imaging (CT) showed signs of a pneumonitis, with an ARDS pattern related to the use of PD-1 antibodies. Treating the patient with high-dose immunosuppressive steroids led to an overall improvement. He was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital and subsequently to his home. Discussion and conclusion: This is a unique case report of a patient suffering a grade 4 adverse event under nivolumab who survived having been treated with ECMO. It highlights the possibility of associated adverse reactions as well as the use of ECMO in palliative care patients. ECMO can be of great success even in patients with malignancies, but careful decision making should be done on a case by case basis.


1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (02) ◽  
pp. 338-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Navarro ◽  
J. P. Cambus ◽  
H. Caplain ◽  
P. d’Azemar ◽  
J. Necciari ◽  
...  

SummaryVenous thromboembolism may be efficiently treated by once-a-day (o.d.) administration of a high dose of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) instead of administration of the same total dose in two injections a day (b.i. d.). To reduce the volume of the subcutaneous (s.c.) injection, a more concentrated form of the drug is advisable. This study was designed to compare the bioavailability of 2 formulations of nadroparin containing 10,250 and 20,500 anti-Xa IU·ml-1 respectively. This was an open, randomized, cross-over study where 12 healthy volunteers (age 18-35) were enrolled. They received either 90 anti-Xa IU·kg-1 b.i. d. of the 10,250 IU preparation (treatment A), or 180 anti-Xa IU·kg-1 o.d. of the 20,500 IU preparation (treatment B) for 10 days. On day 1, the subjects were sampled between 0 and 12 h (treatment A) or between 0 and 24 h (treatment B). On day 10, they were sampled between 0 and 12 h and between 12 and 24 h (treatment A) or between 0 and 24 h (treatment B). Anti-Xa and anti-IIa activities were determined by specific chromogenic assays. The main result of the study was that the bioavailability of the anti-Xa activity of the 2 nadroparin formulations was equivalent, as shown by the comparison of the AUC0-12 h plus AUC12-24 h (treatment A) and the AUC0-24 h (treatment B), calculated on day 10. This study also allowed a number of interesting observations to be made. 1) Between day 1 and day 10, there was an accumulation of the anti-Xa activity for treatment A but not for treatment B (accumulation factors: 1.6 and 1.1 respectively); 2) On day 10, the AUC0-12 h were slightly but significantly lower than the AUC12-24 h suggesting a circadian effect for anti-Xa and anti-IIa activities; 3) the clearance of the anti-Xa activity was comparable at the 2-dose regimens, while that of the anti-IIa activity was lower in treatment B than in treatment A, indicating a significant dose effect for the pharmacodynamics of the longer heparin chains; 4) On average, the clearance of the anti-IIa activity was twice as high as that of the anti-Xa activity; 5) For treatment B, significant APTT prolongations were noticed at Tmax (prolongation factor: 1.7 ± 0.25), in relation with the anti-IIa activity (0.3 ± 0.1 IU·ml–1).


1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (06) ◽  
pp. 1162-1165 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Mismetti ◽  
S. Laporte-Simitsidis ◽  
C. Navarro ◽  
P. Sié ◽  
P. d’Azemar ◽  
...  

SummaryVenous thromboembolism may be efficiently treated by one single daily administration of a high dose of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH). The present study investigates if the physiological deterioration of renal function associated with normal aging or the presence of an acute venous thromboembolism influences the pharmacodynamic pattern of the anti-factor Xa and anti-thrombin activities. Three groups of 12 subjects were investigated. The first 2 groups were composed of healthy volunteers differing by age (25 ± 4 and 65 ± 3 yrs) and creati-nine clearance (114 ± 15 and 62 ± 6 ml · min –1). The third group was composed of patients hospitalized for deep vein thrombosis, having a mean age of 65 ± 11 yrs and creatinine clearance of 76 ± 8 ml · min –1. Nadroparin was administered subcutaneously once daily at the dose of 180 anti-factor Xa IU.kg–1 for 6 to 10 days. Serial sampling on day 1 and on the last day of administration (day n) allowed the pharmacodynamic parameters of the anti-factor Xa and anti-thrombin activities to be compared at the begining and at the end of the treatment. The main findings were the following: (1) After repeated administration, a significant accumulation of the anti-factor Xa activity was observed in the healthy elderly and in the patients but not in the healthy young subjects (accumulation factor: 1.3). There was no evidence of accumulation of anti-thrombin activity; (2) There were significant correlations between the clearance of creatinine and the clearance of the anti-factor Xa activity but not with that of the anti-thrombin activity; (3) In the patients, the clearance of the anti-factor Xa and of the anti-thrombin activities were 1.4 and 2 times higher respectively than those calculated in the healthy elderly; (4) The mean ratio of the of anti-factor Xa and anti-thrombin clearances was close to 2 in the healthy subjects but equal to 5.4 in the patients. These results suggest that the mechanisms involved in the clearance of polysaccharide chains which support the anti-thrombin activity are different from those of the anti-factor Xa activity and that the enhanced binding properties of plasma proteins to unfractionated heparin reported in patients presenting an acute venous thromboembolism also exists for LMWH, predominantly for the anti-thrombin activity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arianna De Matteis ◽  
Emanuela Sacco ◽  
Camilla Celani ◽  
Andrea Uva ◽  
Virginia Messia ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Pleural effusion in systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) is a common symptom, and recent studies demonstrated that IL-6 has a pivotal role in its pathogenesis. Case presentation We report a case of a 15 years old Caucasian boy with a history of persistent pleural effusion without lung involvement or fever. Microbiological and neoplastic aetiologies were previously excluded. Based on the presence of pleuritis, malar rash, reduction of C3 and C4 levels and positivity of antinuclear antibody (ANA) and anti-double stranded DNA (dsDNA), the diagnosis of juvenile SLE (JSLE) was performed. Treatment with high dose of intravenous glucocorticoids and mycophenolate mofetil was started with partial improvement of pleural effusion. Based on this and on adults SLE cases with serositis previously reported, therapy with intravenous tocilizumab (800 mg every two weeks) was started with prompt recovery of pleural effusion. Conclusion To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of JSLE pleuritis successfully treated with tocilizumab.


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