The American journal of emergency medicine
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Case Reports
"Campfire corrosive: Isolated gastrointestinal injury following ingestion of copper salts".
Human exposures to "fire color changing" agents containing copper salts (CS) are rare. We report the case of an intentional mixed CS ingestion with resulting corrosive gastrointestinal injury absent classic laboratory abnormalities. A 23-year-old male with a history of bipolar disorder presented to the emergency department two hours after intentional ingesting an unknown quantity of the fire colorant "Mystical Fire," which contains cupric sulfate (CuSO4) and cupric chloride (CuCl2). ⋯ The patient was started on a proton pump inhibitor and discharged. In this case, the absence of classic laboratory findings of copper did not rule out the presence of gastrointestinal injury. Further investigation is needed to determine the most effective means of ruling out clinically significant CS ingestions.
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Case Reports
Crowned dens syndrome: A rare form of acute neck pain and headache that can be misdiagnosed or missed.
Crowned dens syndrome (CDS) occurs due to the deposition of calcium pyrophosphate (CPP) in the ligament tissue around the odontoid process of the axis. CDS is characterized by acute neck pain, stiffness, fever, and elevated inflammatory markers. It is a rare cause of neck pain among older people. ⋯ Over the past 5 years, the patient has experienced neck and head pain several times. MRI of the head and CT scan of the neck showed calcification of the transverse atlantoaxial and cruciate ligament in combination with mild compression of the medulla oblongata. The patient was given non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and colchicine for 10 days, with significant symptom improvement and no recurrence at 10 months of follow-up.