Ayurveda metallic-mineral 'Bhasma-associated severe liver injury

Ayurveda Bhasma is a metallic-mineral preparation homogenised with herbal juices or decoctions and modified with heat treatment to apparently detoxify the heavy metals. It is widely recommended for the treatment of many disease conditions by practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine in the absence of good quality clinical trial evidence on its safety and efficacy. Heavy metal-induced liver injury is widely reported in the literature, and heavy metal adulteration of non-Bhasma-related Ayurveda and herbal products has been well described. We report a patient who developed severe liver injury requiring listing for liver transplantation for improved survival, after consumption of Bhasma for dyspepsia. This case describes the first documented case and toxicology analysis of Ayurveda Bhasma associated with severe drug-induced liver injury. Physicians must be alert regarding patient's use of supposedly safe Ayurveda Bhasma that may promote acute severe liver injury in the absence of other known aetiologies.

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Phytobezoar and duodenal ulcer as complication of Duodopa therapy in a patient affected by Parkinsons disease

Continuous duodenal infusion of levodopa/carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) is an established treatment to control motor fluctuations in Parkinson's disease. Duodenal infusion allows a steady absorption of the drug in the small bowel, reducing plasmatic fluctuations of levodopa. Some complications may occur during the treatment, often related to intrajejunal percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG-J). We report a case of duodenal ulcer associated with a phytobezoar involving the end of jejunal probe, in a patient who underwent PEG-J for LCIG infusion. In the last 2 weeks, the patient suffered from abdominal pain and dyspepsia. Oesophagogastroduodenoscopy showed an ulcerative lesion of the duodenum due to traction of the jejunal tube; the end of the jejunal tube was wrapped in a phytobezoar. This case is interesting because of the extension of the ulcerative lesion due to PEG-J dislocation and because of the subtle symptoms associated with it.

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Just another case of bacterial meningitis... or... is it?

Non-traumatic cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) rhinorrhoea is a rare condition. We describe a case of a 62-year-old woman with pneumococcal bacterial meningitis who later was found to have CSF rhinorrhoea secondary to an eroding skull base tumour, which was proven to be pituitary macroadenoma on biopsy. She recovered well from meningitis without any neurological sequelae and underwent trans-sphenoidal surgery for tumour removal as well as dural repair.

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Ectopic insulinomas in the pelvis secondary to rectum neuroendocrine tumour

We describe a middle-aged woman with recurrent hypoglycaemia, who confirmed with rectum G1 neuroendocrine tumour (NET) 6 years ago. Biochemical assay showed high concentration of serum insulin and C-peptide associated with hypoglycaemia. Because of recurrent hypoglycaemia in June 2015, she underwent a resection of the tail of the pancreas. However, hypoglycaemia attack happened more frequently and severely. ⁶⁸Ga-DOTA-NOC positron emission tomography/CT revealed five foci in the pelvis with intense uptake. Immediately after excision of the pelvic lesions, insulin and C-peptide decreased to normal levels promptly, and therefore, serum glucose increased significantly. Hypoglycaemia was disappeared, and insulin and C-peptide were normal at 2 years follow-up after surgery. Immunohistochemistry validated the primary rectum NET and pelvic tumours expressed with higher insulin, somatostatin receptor and glucagon-like peptide-1. This is the first reported ectopic pelvic insulinomas secondary to rectum NET, which may originate both from neuroendocrine cells in the rectum and pelvic tissues.

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Pineal gland apoplexy mimicking as migraine-like headache

Description 

A 24-year-old female patient presented with acute-onset, vertex headache associated with photophobia, nausea and vomiting. Initially, the headache was mild (pain scale 4/10), but over the next 4–5 hours, the severity of the headache increased to pain scale of 8/10. She had a history of similar headaches of lesser intensity in the past. There was also a strong family history of migraine. Her mother and younger sister used to get similar headaches and got relieved with antimigraine medications. Exact details of her medication history were unavailable since the progression of severity of her headache was gradual. This was unlike thunderclap headache and, in high likelihood, another episode of migraine.

Her vitals were stable. Neurological examination, including funduscopy, was grossly normal

On radiological evaluation, the MRI brain showed T1-weighted hyperintense pineal gland, as seen on the axial view suggestive of intrapineal gland apoplexy (figure 1). The fluid–fluid interface is depicted by the horizontal...

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Unusual cause of elbow pain in a baseball pitcher

An adolescent, right hand-dominant, baseball pitcher presented to sports medicine clinic with posterolateral right elbow pain over 4 months. He rated his pain as 8/10 with pitching, especially at the late cocking phase of throwing. Prior to consult, he had rested 3 months from pitching, progressing to strengthening exercises, with no pain relief. On physical examination, he had 120° of active external rotation, 80° of active internal rotation, mild tenderness to palpation over the capitellum and normal elbow radiography. Magnetic resonance arthrogram of the right elbow revealed subtle, posterolateral joint capsular tear and adjacent synovial hypertrophy. The patient was diagnosed with elbow synovial fold syndrome that was causing impingement at the radiocapitellar joint and was referred to an orthopaedic surgeon. Arthroscopy revealed redundant tissue; scar formation at the radiocapitellar joint was debrided. The patient participated in physical therapy for 2 months and was able to start throwing 3 months later.

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Double tongue signs in a case of submandibular space infection

Description

Double tongue signs are a unique physical finding which involve an elevation of floor of the oropharynx caused by a bilateral infection of the submandibular space (a well-known example is Ludwig's angina) (figure 1A).1 2 In this case, an 80-year-old woman with a 10-year history of diabetes mellitus was referred to our emergency department. She presented with swelling from the submandibular region to the neck surface, with a 3-day history of continuous fever, weakness and fatigue. Physical examination revealed neck oedema with erythema and tenderness (figure 1B), without lymphadenopathy. The floor of the oropharynx was clearly swollen and elevated, such that it appeared to be a double tongue; this was erythematous and tender. Enhanced CT of the neck was performed, which revealed bilateral fluid retention with swollen surrounding soft tissues in the submandibular space (figure 2). We...

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