Medicine
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Case Reports
Middle mediastinal paraganglioma enclosing the left anterior descending artery: A case report.
Paragangliomas are extremely rare neuroendocrine tumors arising from ganglia. These tumors are barely found in the middle mediastinum. ⋯ This report can increase the confidence in surgeries of mediastinal paragangliomas adhering tightly the adjacent structures.
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A jejunal gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is a rare neoplasm of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Massive bleeding due to a jejunal GIST is a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. It may be a life-threatening GIST complication that requires urgent intervention. Acute GI bleeding, which requires urgent surgical intervention, is a very rare clinical manifestation of GIST. A jejunal GIST with massive hemorrhage with coronavirus disease 2019 in a male patient in older age with many comorbidities has been not reported in the worldwide literature. ⋯ This case indicates that jejunal GIST can present as massive lower gastrointestinal bleeding and urgent surgery can successfully stop bleeding and save the patient's life. The CT scan was the most effective investigation to find the source of GI bleeding in this case. Therefore, we suggest performing CT in patients with acute massive lower gastrointestinal bleeding when the source of bleeding is not visible on endoscopy, and urgent surgical jejunal resection to stop life-threatening bleeding caused by a jejunal GIST.
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Case Reports
Warfarin-induced spontaneous intramural small bowel hematoma presenting as an acute abdomen: A case report.
Spontaneous intramural small-bowel hematoma (SISBH) is a rare complication of anticoagulation therapy. Presentation of SISBH can vary from mild abdominal pain to an acute abdomen. ⋯ Warfarin-induced SISBH presenting as an acute abdomen is an emergency condition that needs early diagnosis and timely management. Surgical intervention may be indicated for intestinal obstruction, ischemia, perforation, peritonitis, and intra-abdominal hemorrhage.
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Therapeutic laparoscopic-assisted transgastric endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (LA-ERCP) is a safe and effective technique for patient who are unable to receive endoscopic or percutaneous transhepatic treatment. This procedure shows a high overall success rate in managing pancreaticobiliary complications, comparable to that of ERCP. ⋯ Staged LA-ERCP represents a practical strategy for managing bile leakage and offers a novel solution for patients for whom transoral and transhepatic approaches are unsuitable. As a result, clinicians must know techniques for gaining access to the biliary system, such as LA-ERCP.
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Heart failure is a chronic disease requiring lifetime self-management at home by patients, who often require additional support. However, the long-term nature of this self-management presents great challenges for both heart failure patients and their family caregivers. The role of family caregivers is critical, but little is known about the relationship between the burden, stress, depressive symptoms, and quality of life in the family caregivers of heart failure patients. ⋯ The result of the hierarchical multiple regression analysis identified 3 significant factors related to the family caregivers' quality of life: caregiver's age (β = -0.257, P = .012), caregiver burden (β = -0.408, P = .002) and caregiver depressive symptoms (β = -0.298, P = .018), with overall explanatory power of 47.5%. It is necessary to develop practical strategies to improve family caregivers' quality of life by alleviating their burden and depressive symptoms. Healthcare providers should be engaged with not only heart failure patients but also their family caregivers during the disease management process to improve patients' outcomes.