Clinical implications of C6 complement component deficiency

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 386-388
Author(s):  
Christine K. Rauscher ◽  
Merritt L. Fajt ◽  
Jodie Bryk ◽  
Andrej A. Petrov

Background: Terminal complement component deficiencies are risk factors for neisserial infections. Objective: To review the clinical characteristics, the diagnosis and the management of patients with a terminal complement component deficiency. Methods: Pertinent articles were selected and reviewed in relation to a case presentation of C6 deficiency. Results: A case of a 56-year old patient with a history of meningitis, chronic rash, and C6 deficiency was presented, followed by discussion of clinical characteristics, diagnosis, and management of terminal complement component deficiencies. Clinical pearls and pitfalls were reviewed for the practicing allergist/immunologist and fellow-in-training. Conclusion: C6 deficiency is the most common terminal complement component deficiency and can present later in age with N. meningitidis infections. Patients can be screened for terminal complement component deficiency by checking CH50.

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Florence Jaguga

Abstract Background Stuttering is a rare side effect of clozapine. It has been shown to occur in the presence of one or more factors such as abnormal electrophysiological findings and seizures, extrapyramidal symptoms, brain pathology, and a family history of stuttering. Few case reports have documented the occurrence of clozapine-induced stuttering in the absence of these risk factors. Case presentation A 29-year-old African male on clozapine for treatment-resistant schizophrenia presented with stuttering at a dosage of 400 mg/day that resolved with dose reduction. Electroencephalogram findings were normal, and there was no clinical evidence of seizures. The patient had no prior history or family history of stuttering, had a normal neurological examination, and showed no signs of extrapyramidal symptoms. Conclusion Clinicians ought to be aware of stuttering as a side effect of clozapine, even in the absence of known risk factors. Further research should investigate the pathophysiology of clozapine-induced stuttering.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masoud Shafiee ◽  
Mohsen Shafiee ◽  
Noorollah Tahery ◽  
Omid Azadbakht ◽  
Zeinab Nassari ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Type A aortic dissection is a very dangerous, fatal, and emergency condition for surgery. Acute aortic dissection is a rare condition, such that many patients will not survive without reconstructive surgery. Case presentation We present a case 24-year-old male who came with symptoms of shortness of breath and cough. The patient underwent ECG, chest radiology, and ultrasound, where the patient was found to have right pleural effusion while his ECG was normal. In the history taken from the patient, he had no underlying disease, no history of heart diseases in his family. For a better diagnosis, ETT and aortic CT angiography was performed on the patient which confirmed the evidence of dissection. Immediately after the diagnosis, necessary arrangements were made for open heart surgery and the patient was prepared for surgery. The patient was admitted in the cardiac surgery ICU for 5 days and his medication was carefully administered. After the conditions were stabilized, the patient was transferred to the post-cardiac surgery ICU ward. The patient was discharged from the hospital one week after the surgery and returned to the office as an OPD one week after his discharge. Conclusion Various risk factors can play a role in creating aortic dissection. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to patients’ history for achieving a quick and definitive diagnosis. Therefore, to control the complications of placing the cannula as well as the duration of the surgery, it is very important to reduce the duration of pumping on the patient and to be very careful during the cannula placement.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miao Li ◽  
Xiao-Hua Han ◽  
Li-Yun Liu ◽  
Hui-Sheng Yao ◽  
Li-Li Yi

Abstract Background Atopy may be associated with disease severity and a poor prognosis of human adenovirus (HAdV) pneumonia in children. Our aim was to observe the clinical characteristics and pulmonary radiological changes in children with atopy and HAdV pneumonia in China. Methods Children hospitalised with HAdV pneumonia from June 2018 to December 2019 were analysed. All children were divided into atopic with HAdV, non-atopic with HAdV, and atopic without HAdV infection group. Each group was further divided into the mild and severe pneumonia groups according to disease severity. Standard treatment was initiated after admission, and regular follow-up evaluations were conducted at 1 month after discharge. Baseline and clinical characteristics and pulmonary radiological changes in children with and without atopy were evaluated. Risk factors associated with small airway lesions in patients with HAdV pneumonia were analysed. Results The eosinophil count in the atopic group was significantly higher than that in the non-atopic group (P < 0.05). Severe coughing, wheezing, and small airway lesions on chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) upon admission, after discharge and 1 month after discharge were significantly higher in the atopic group (with or without HAdV infection) than in the non-atopic group (P < 0.05). There were significant differences in the number of patients with wheezing and small airway lesions during hospitalisation and after discharge among the three groups (P < 0.05). The risks of small airway lesions in children with a family or personal history of asthma, severe infection, atopy, and HAdV infection were 2.1-, 2.7-, 1.9-, 2.1-, and 1.4-times higher than those in children without these characteristics, respectively. Conclusions Children with atopy and HAdV pneumonia may experience severe coughing in mild cases and wheezing in mild and severe cases. Children with atopy are more susceptible to the development of small airway lesions, recurrent wheezing after discharge and slower recovery of small airway lesions as observed on pulmonary imaging than non-atopic children after HAdV infection. A family or personal history of asthma, atopy, severe infection, and HAdV infection are independent risk factors associated with the development of small airway lesion as observed on chest HRCT.


Author(s):  
Mary C. Zanarini

At baseline, borderline patients reported higher rates of adult rape and physical assault by a partner than Axis II comparison subjects. Four risk factors were found to significantly predict whether borderline patients had an adult history of being a victim of physical and/or sexual violence before their index admission: female gender, a substance use disorder that began before the age of 18, childhood sexual abuse, and emotional withdrawal by a caretaker (a form of neglect). At six-year and 10-year follow-up, borderline patients reported higher rates of being verbally, emotionally, physically, and sexually abused or assaulted than did Axis II comparison subjects. However, each of these forms of abuse declined significantly over time. The clinical implications of these prevalence and predictive findings are discussed.


Author(s):  
Konstantinos P Letsas ◽  
George Bazoukis ◽  
Michael Efremidis ◽  
Stamatis Georgopoulos ◽  
Panagiotis Korantzopoulos ◽  
...  

Abstract Aims Risk stratification in Brugada syndrome (BrS) still represents an unsettled issue. In this multicentre study, we aimed to evaluate the clinical characteristics and the long-term clinical course of patients with BrS. Methods and results A total of 111 consecutive patients (86 males; aged 45.3 ± 13.3 years) diagnosed with BrS were included and followed-up in a prospective fashion. Thirty-seven patients (33.3%) were symptomatic at enrolment (arrhythmic syncope). An electrophysiological study (EPS) was performed in 59 patients (53.2%), and ventricular arrhythmias were induced in 32 (54.2%). A cardioverter defibrillator was implanted in 34 cases (30.6%). During a mean follow-up period of 4.6 ± 3.5 years, appropriate device therapies occurred in seven patients. Event-free survival analysis (log-rank test) showed that spontaneous type-1 electrocardiogram pattern (P = 0.008), symptoms at presentation (syncope) (P = 0.012), family history of sudden cardiac death (P < 0.001), positive EPS (P = 0.024), fragmented QRS (P = 0.004), and QRS duration in lead V2 > 113 ms (P < 0.001) are predictors of future arrhythmic events. Event rates were 0%, 4%, and 60% among patients with 0–1 risk factor, 2–3 risk factors, and 4–5 risk factors, respectively (P < 0.001). Current multiparametric score models exhibit an excellent negative predictive value and perform well in risk stratification of BrS patients. Conclusions Multiparametric models including common risk factors appear to provide better risk stratification of BrS patients than single factors alone.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lixia Yang ◽  
Juan Xiao ◽  
Jiawei Wang ◽  
Han Zhang

Purpose. To investigate the clinical characteristics of Mooren’s ulcer in East China and to identify the potential risk factors that affect the recurrence of Mooren’s ulcer. Methods. We reviewed the medical records of 95 patients (100 eyes) diagnosed with Mooren’s ulcer from May 2005 to December 2014. The patients were classified into recurrent and nonrecurrent groups and followed up for 18 months. The difference between two groups was estimated. The patients in the recurrent group were subdivided according to the history of corneal infection and corneal perforation, respectively. The recurrent time in the subgroups was analyzed. Results. Patients in the recurrent group were more likely to have a history of corneal infection and corneal perforation than that in the nonrecurrent groups. In patients with recurrent Mooren’s ulcer, the median time to first recurrence was 130 days in the infection group, 480 days in noninfection group, and 195 days in the perforation group versus 480 days in nonperforation group. Conclusion. Corneal infection and corneal perforation were associated with early recurrence of Mooren’s ulcer. The tailored follow-up schedule should be used for patients with corneal infection and corneal perforation due to the high risk of recurrence.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-251
Author(s):  
Kamesh Gupta ◽  
Anurag  Rohatgi ◽  
Shivani Handa

Background: Stroke in a migraine with aura has been documented in several cases, even deserving the merit of a classification as complicated migraine. Herein, we present a rare case of migrainous infarct without aura. The diagnosis was challenging due to lack of risk factors. The patient was unique in not having any other comorbidities. Case Presentation: The case is of a 21-year-old female presenting with right-sided hemiplegia and facial drooping. She had had an index presentation of throbbing headaches for the past 2 years, typical of a migraine but not preceded by any aura symptoms. However, in the current episode, the pain became excessively severe and accompanied by right-sided hemiplegia and facial drooping. A full investigation workup using MRI revealed evidence of infarct in the left temporoparietal and basal ganglion region. Conclusion: Our case highlights the need to evaluate silent ischemic stroke in case of prolonged headache with a history of migraine as well as the need for precaution to avoid the use of triptans or opioids in such a case. It also highlights the conditions that need to be excluded before labeling it as a migrainous infarct.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Vieira Bertozzi ◽  
Amanda de Oliveira Vicente ◽  
Amanda Siqueira Pereira ◽  
João Pedro Espinha de Sant'Ana ◽  
Rafaela Braga Cabrera Mano ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: A 73-years-old-man patient who had a history of Human Immunodefiency Virus (HIV) infection for over 20 years was diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection.Case presentation: The patient was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where he remained for 25 days, due to a severe condition. Intubation, hemodialysis and tracheostomy were necessary to maintain homeostasis. In addition to regular treatment with etravirine, dolutegravir, darunavir and ritonavir for highly active antiretroviral therapy, the patient received To-cilizumab, which showed a great recovery in the patient's condition.Conclusion : The patient had several risk factors, such as: male gender, age> 70 years and hypertension. The use of To-cilizumab was of great importance in the patient's recovery, since the drug increased his immune response, which is deficient, due to HIV infection.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Gang Ren ◽  
Xingyi Guo ◽  
Lei Tu ◽  
Qinyong Hu ◽  
Kevin Blighe ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBackgroundPatients with COVID-19 can develop myocardial injury and arrhythmia during the course of their illness. However, the underlying risk factors for the development of cardiovascular related manifestations are unclear.MethodsUsing a register-based multi-center cross-sectional design, we analyzed 80 patients with myocardial injury and 401 controls, as well as 71 patients with arrhythmia and 409 controls, all admitted with COVID-19. Putative risk factors for myocardial injury and arrhythmia were evaluated with logistic regression with adjustment for potential confounders.ResultsCOVID-19 patients with myocardial injury had fatigue (66.2%) and dyspnea (63.7%), while those with arrhythmia had dyspnea (71.8%). Patients with myocardial injury and arrhythmia had a significant mortality of 92.5% and 94.4%, respectively. A history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or heart diseases was associated with an increased risk of myocardial injury (odds ratio [OR] = 1.94, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-3.71; OR = 7.43, 95% CI: 3.99-13.83) and arrhythmia (OR = 1.94, 95% CI: 1.00-3.75; OR = 13.16, 95% CI: 6.75-25.68). In addition, we found that gamma glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) >50U/L (OR = 2.14, 95% CI: 1.37-3.32; OR = 1.85, 95% CI: 1.19-2.85), serum creatinine >111μmol/L (OR = 8.96, 95% CI: 4.4-18.23; OR = 3.71, 95% CI: 2.01-6.85), serum sodium <136 mmol/L (OR = 4.68, 95% CI: 2.46-8.91; OR = 2.06; 95% CI: 1.06-4.00) were all associated with increased risk of myocardial injury and arrhythmia, respectively.ConclusionOur reported clinical characteristics and identified risk factors are important for clinical study of COVID-19 patients developing myocardial injury and arrhythmia.


Blood ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 108 (11) ◽  
pp. 4090-4090
Author(s):  
Maria Teresa De Sancho ◽  
Nickisha Berlus ◽  
Jacob H. Rand

Abstract Factor V Leiden (FVL) and prothrombin G20210A gene mutations are the most prevalent hereditary thrombophilias (HT). Carriers of these HT are at greater risk for developing thromboembolic events (TEE) and/or pregnancy complications (PC) compared to non-carriers, but not all carriers develop clinical manifestations. We retrospectively analyzed the risk factors (RF) for clinical manifestations of all subjects who tested positive for FVL and/or PG20210A gene mutations in our hematology clinic between January 2000 and July 2006. Symptomatic carriers (cases) and asymptomatic carriers (controls) were compared. Cases were defined as having had a TEE (venous and/or arterial) or a PC (pregnancy loss (PL), preeclampsia, abruption placenta and intrauterine growth restriction). Data analyzed included secondary RF for thrombosis, use of female hormones (FH), family history of thrombosis (FHT), and the presence of other thrombophilias. During the study period, 197 subjects were fully evaluable; 9 were excluded due to insufficient data. The clinical characteristics are shown in Table 1. Of the 85 venous thromboses (VT), 59 (69%) had DVT and/or PE, 10 (12%) had superficial thrombophlebitis, 9 (11%) intra-abdominal thrombosis, 2 (2%) cerebral VT, 2 (2%) had retinal VT and 3 (4%) had &gt; 1 site of VT. Of the 25 arterial thromboses (AT), 11 (44%) were CVA, 7 (28%) had TIA, 6 (24%) had other AT, and 1 (4%) had an MI. Of the 52 cases with PL, 27 (52%) were early recurrent 1st trimester PL, 8 (15%) were 2nd or 3rd trimester PL, 4 (8%) had infertility and 13 (25%) had both PL and infertility. Of the 5 PC, 3 were abruption placenta, 1 preeclampsia and 1 had &gt; 1 PC. The most common RF was the presence of &gt; 1 secondary RF (Table 2). There was no significant difference between cases and controls regarding the use of FH, FHT, and presence of other thrombophilias. Fertility medications were used by 12 (10%) of cases vs. 1 (2%) of controls. Antiphospholipid (aPL) antibody-positivity was the most prevalent concurrent thrombophilic factor and occurred in 18 of cases (12%) vs. 2 (4%) of controls. Cases and controls were similar regarding gender, age, family history of thrombosis, and presence of other thrombophilias. In summary, fertility medications and aPL antibodies appear to be significant risk factors for clinical manifestations in cases. Larger multicenter studies are warranted to identify additional RF in carriers of these HT. Clinical Characteristics Cases (n=145) Controls (n=52) *85 heterozygous, 6 homozygous, **29 heterozygous, 2 homozygous, ***37 heterozygous, 2 homozygous, ****100% heterozygous Mean Age, yr [+/−SD] 44+/−13 42+/−13 Gender, female 115 (79%) 42 (81%) FVL 91 (63%)* 31 (60%)** PG20210A 39 (27%)*** 18 (35%)**** FVL + PG20210A 15 (10%) 3 (6%) VT 85 (59%) --- AT 25 (17%) --- PC and infertility (female carriers, n=115) 57 (50%) --- Risk Factors Cases (n=145) Controls (n=52) p value Includes obesity, postoperative period, pregnancy, puerperium, long airplane flight, smoking, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and immobilization; **oral contraceptives, hormone replacement therapy, selective estrogen receptor modulators, progesterone OC, fertility medications Secondary RF* 74 (51%) 15 (29%) 0.265 NS Use of female hormones**, n=115 59 (51%) 21 (50%) 0.478 NS Family history of thrombosis 73 (50%) 34 (65%) 0.252 NS Other thrombophilias 60 (41%) 21 (40%) 0.232 NS


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