Internal medicine
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We herein report an unusual case of granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) in a 65-year-old man in whom relapsed disease manifested as an anterior cheek nodule. Magnetic resonance imaging indicated the differential diagnoses of the subcutaneous nodule in the patient's anterior cheek to be inflammatory granulomatous lesions with GPA, malignancy, or infectious disease. ⋯ The subcutaneous nodule was successfully treated using rituximab, suggesting that it was associated with GPA, secondary to vasculitis. Clinicians should be aware of the possibility of such a rare manifestation of GPA.
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Objective Despite advances in medicine, aortic diseases (ADs), such as aneurysm rupture and aortic dissection, remain fatal and carry extremely high mortality rates. Due to its low frequency, the risk of developing AD has not yet been fully elucidated. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease and mortality. ⋯ A multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis demonstrated that CKD was an independent risk factor for AD-related death in the general population after adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors. The addition of CKD to cardiovascular risk factors significantly improved the C, net reclassification, and integrated discrimination indexes. Conclusion CKD is an additional risk for AD-related death, suggesting that CKD may be a target for the prevention and early identification of subjects at high risk for AD-related death in the general population.
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Objective Primary aldosteronism (PA) is a major cause of secondary hypertension. The association between PA and other hormone disorders is unclear. The present study aimed to evaluate whether the parathyroid hormone (PTH) value is associated with PA subtypes or specific treatments. ⋯ However, there was no correlation between the PTH value and PA subtypes in our study. Additionally, our study showed that targeted treatment for PA may lead to a decrease in the serum PTH levels. Hence, the PTH value could potentially be used as an index for measuring the suitability for PA treatment.
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Cronkhite-Canada syndrome (CCS) is a rare polyposis disorder accompanied by alopecia and onychodystrophy. A 63-year-old man with a history of CCS and repeated embolism developed progressive thrombocytopenia and mild anemia. Laboratory testing, a bone marrow examination, and magnetic resonance imaging of the spine resulted in a diagnosis of concurrent aplastic anemia (AA). ⋯ Mesalazine was discontinued in consideration of possible drug-induced pancytopenia. Immunosuppressive therapy ameliorated both the gastrointestinal symptoms of CCS and pancytopenia. A common autoimmune abnormality might underlie both CCS and AA.
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Objective We aimed to clarify clinical and laboratory characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, and further explore the features to detect COVID-19 pneumonia at the first visit to community-based hospitals. Methods Diagnoses of COVID-19 were based on positive results from real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction testing of nasopharyngeal-swab specimens. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients showing positive results. ⋯ Using a multivariable analysis, CRP ≥0.3 mg/dL and fibrinogen >400 mg/dL were found to be associated with the presence of pneumonia. Conclusion Community-based settings for screening COVID-19 patients should perform chest X-ray and blood tests for white blood cell fractions, fibrinogen, LDH, and CRP. Of these, elevations in the CRP and fibrinogen levels could be critically associated with the presence of COVID-19 pneumonia.