Internal medicine
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Objective The establishment of a department of general internal medicine (GIM) has been shown to improve the clinical outcomes among patients treated in GIM departments but the effect on practice patterns in other departments remains unclear. We evaluated the association between the establishment of a GIM department and the use of blood cultures, an indicator of quality of care of infectious diseases, in other departments. Methods This study was conducted between 2013 and 2017 in a community hospital which established a new GIM department in 2015, with a mandate to improve the quality of care of the hospital including infectious disease management. ⋯ Results In departments other than GIM, there were 284 blood cultures prior to the establishment of the GIM department (2013-2014) and 853 afterwards (2016-2017). The number of blood culture episodes in other departments increased by 10.7 (95%CI: 0.39-21.0, p=0.042) per calendar month after the establishment of the GIM department; blood culture episodes/calendar month/1,000 patient-days increased by 0.55 (95%CI: 0.03-1.07 p=0.037). Conclusion These results indicate that a GIM department in a community hospital can improve the quality of care in other departments.
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Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a hematologic malignancy that typically presents with lymphadenopathy. We herein report a patient with HL who presented with an intramuscular mass that required differentiation from an inflammatory lesion. A 65-year-old Japanese woman was referred to our hospital with a chief complaint of chronic and expanding tumor in her left thigh. ⋯ She received combined modality therapy, resulting in a complete response. Primary intramuscular classic HL is extremely rare. It should be listed as a differential diagnosis of intramuscular tumors.
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Acquired vitamin B12 (VB12) deficiency is a rare cause of thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). We experienced an 86-year-old Japanese woman who presented with coma, renal dysfunction, and microangiopathic hemolytic anemia. Although we initially considered thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, we eventually diagnosed her to have VB12 deficiency due to inappropriate dietary care based on her low serum VB12 level, social history, and negative parietal cell finding and the presence of intrinsic factor antibody. Because similar cases are expected to increase in today's aging society, our experience underscores the importance of including acquired VB12 deficiency in the differential diagnosis of TMA, even in elderly patients without a history of gastrectomy.
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Congenital mutations of the Wilms' tumor 1 (WT1) gene can lead to various abnormalities, including renal/gonadal developmental disorders and cardiac malformations. Although there have been many reports of somatic WT1 mutations in patients with acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome, congenital WT1 mutations have not been reported in hematological disorders. We herein report a patient with early-onset clonal cytopenia of undetermined significance that was associated with a congenital mutation of WT1 and an acquired mutation of DNMT3A [encoding DNA (cytosine-5)-methyltransferase 3A].
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Case Reports
Persistent Hemichorea as a Preceding Symptom of Cerebral Infarction due to Middle Cerebral Artery Stenosis.
We herein report an 84-year-old woman with right middle cerebral artery (MCA) stenosis who presented with persistent left hemichorea preceding cerebral infarction. She visited our hospital on day 9 after the hemichorea onset. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed no acute cerebral infarction. ⋯ Repeat MRI revealed a cerebral infarction in the right putamen. MCA stenosis can present with persistent hemichorea, even in the absence of cerebral infarction. Persistent hemichorea with MCA stenosis may presage cerebral infarction.