Small Cell Lung Cancer Doubling Time and its Effect on Clinical Presentation: A Concise Review

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is one of many types rapidly growing malignant diseases, such as Burkitt’s lymphoma and testicular germ cell cancers. At present, there is no reliable way to screen for SCLC, and imaging modalities tend to be delayed in detecting this type of cancer. The clinical presentation of acutely and rapidly growing SCLC can mimic those of pulmonary inflammatory or infectious disorders, and in some instances, this delays appropriate management and negatively affects patient outcome

Prevalence of Dysglycemia Among Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery Patients with No Previous Diabetic History

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dysglycemia is a major risk factor for atherosclerosis. In many patient populations dysglycemia is under-diagnosed. Patients with severe coronary artery disease commonly have dysglycemia and there is growing evidence that dysglycemia, irrespective of underlying history of diabetes, is associated with adverse outcome in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery patients, including longer hospital stay, wound infections, and higher mortality. As HbA1c is an easy and reliable way of checking for dysglycemia we routinely screen all patients undergoing CABG for elevations in HbA1c. Our hypothesis was that a substantial number of patients with dysglycemia that could be identified at the time of cardiothoracic surgery despite having no apparent history of diabetes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>1045 consecutive patients undergoing CABG between 2007 and 2009 had HbA1c measured pre-operatively. The 2010 American Diabetes Association (ADA) diagnostic guidelines were used to categorize patients with no known history of diabetes as having diabetes (HbA1c ≥ 6.5%) or increased risk for diabetes (HbA1c 5.7-6.4%).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 1045 patients with pre-operative HbA1c measurements, 40% (n = 415) had a known history of diabetes and 60% (n = 630) had no known history of diabetes. For the 630 patients with no known diabetic history: 207 (32.9%) had a normal HbA1c (< 5.7%); 356 (56.5%) had an HbA1c falling in the increased risk for diabetes range (5.7-6.4%); and 67 (10.6%) had an HbA1c in the diabetes range (6.5% or higher). In this study the only conventional risk factor that was predictive of high HbA1c was BMI. We also found a high HbA1c irrespective of history of DM was associated with severe coronary artery disease as indicated by the number of vessels revascularized.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Among individuals undergoing CABG with no known history of diabetes, there is a substantial amount of undiagnosed dysglycemia. Even though labeling these patients as "diabetic" or "increased risk for diabetes" remains controversial in terms of perioperative management, pre-operative screening could lead to appropriate post-operative follow up to mitigate short-term adverse outcome and provide high priority medical referrals of this at risk population.</p

Thymoma calcification: Is it clinically meaningful?

Among anterior mediastinal lesions, thymoma is the most common. Thymomas are tumors of thymic epithelial cell origin that are distinguished by inconsistent histological and biologic behavior. Chest imaging studies typically show a round or lobulated tumor in the anterior mediastinum. Calcifications in thymomas are classically punctuate or amorphous, positioned within the lesion. Chest computed tomography (CT) features suggesting higher risk thymoma consist of tumor heterogeneity, vascular involvement, lobulation, pulmonary nodules, lymphadenopathy, and pleural manifestations. Imaging findings have an imperfect ability to predict stage and prognosis for thymoma patients. Our objective is to highlight the clinical implications of thymoma calcifications on the diagnosis, clinical manifestation and prognosis. A pubmed and google search was performed using the following words: thymoma calcification, calcified thymus, mediastinal calcification, anterior mediastinal calcification, and calcified thymoma. After reviewing 370 articles, 32 eligible articles describing thymoma calcifications were found and included in this review. Although the presence of thymus calcifications was more common in patients with invasive thymomas, they were present in significant portion of non-invasive thymomas. The presence of calcifications was not a significant factor in differentiating between benign and malignant thymoma. As a result, the type, location, size or other characteristics of thymus gland calcifications were not relevant features in clinical and radiologic diagnosis of thymoma. The histopathological diagnosis is still the only possible way to confirm the neoplastic nature of thymoma. All types of thymomas should be evaluated and managed independently of the presence of calcifications

A Complete Resolution of Sialadenitis Induced by Iodine Containing Contrast with Intravenous Dexamethasone Infusion

Salivary gland enlargement following the administration of iodine is an extremely rare event, and the pathophysiology of iodine-induced sialadenitis is not yet fully known. The onset of symptoms can start within a few minutes to five days after contrast administration. The course of iodine-induced sialadenitis is extremely benign, and rapid resolution of symptoms is expected without treatment. We report the case of a 59-year-old white female who noted mildly painful swelling involving the right side of her face within five days of receiving intravenous iodine-containing contrast. A diagnosis of iodine-related sialadenitis was made. She was given 20 mg of decadron intravenously, with prompt resolution of the swelling within a few hours

Value of platelet/lymphocyte ratio as a predictor of all-cause mortality after non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

Prior studies demonstrated the association between the major adverse cardiovascular outcomes and both higher platelet and lower lymphocyte counts. Our study explores the value of the platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) as a marker of long-term mortality in patients presented with non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). This is an observational study with a total 619 NSTEMI patients admitted to a tertiary center between 2004 and 2006. Patients were stratified into equal tertiles according to their admission PLR. The primary outcome, 4 year all-cause mortality, was compared among the PLR tertiles. The first, second and third PLR tertiles were PLR \u3c 118.4, 118.4 ≤ PLR ≤ 176, and PLR \u3e 176, respectively) included 206, 206 and 207 patients, respectively. There was a significant higher 4 year all-cause mortality in the higher PLR tertiles (the mortalities were 17, 23 and 42 % for the first, second and third PLR tertiles respectively, p \u3c 0.0001). After exclusion of patients expired in the first 30 days, patients in the first PLR tertile had a significant lower 4 year mortality (33/205, 16 %) versus those in the third PLR tertile (72/192, 38 %), p \u3c 0.0001. After controlling for Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events risk scores and other confounders, the hazard ratio of mortality increased 2 % per each 10 U increase of PLR (95 % CI 1.01-1.03, p \u3c 0.0001). In patients with PLR ≥ 176, the mortality rate was statistically higher in those received mono-antiplatelet (30/60 = 50 %) compared to those received dual antiplatelet therapy (48/149 = 32 %), p = 0.0018. However in PLR \u3c 176, the mortality was not significantly different between mono-antiplatelet group (20/94 = 21 %) versus dual antiplatelets group (53/213 = 25 %), p = 0.56. The PLR is a significant independent predictor of long-term mortality after NSTEMI. Among patients with PLR \u3e 176, patients with dual antiplatelet therapy had lower mortality versus those with mono-platelet therapy. Further studies are needed to clarify these findings