Internal medicine
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We herein report the first case of occipital neuralgia secondary to spinal cord infarction. A 74-year-old woman suddenly developed numbness and dysmetria in her right arm. ⋯ The patient was subsequently diagnosed with occipital neuralgia secondary to spinal cord infarction. Diverse etiologies need to be considered in occipital neuralgia secondary to spinal cord lesions.
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Case Reports
Cervical Root Enlargement in Segmental Zoster Paresis: A Study with Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Nerve Ultrasound.
A 72-year-old woman presented with acute-progressive muscle weakness after a rash in the left upper limb. Muscle weakness was restricted to the left C5 innervated muscles. ⋯ Her muscle strength gradually recovered, and the abnormal signal and enlargement in the left C5 nerve root improved. This is the first SZP case of confirmed improvement of abnormal findings on MRI and nerve ultrasound in association with muscle power recovery.
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Objective The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to spread across the world, and the utility of many drugs for treatment has been suggested. However, few studies have examined the efficacy and safety of treatment with baricitinib, remdesivir, and dexamethasone. Methods A retrospective, cohort study of patients who were admitted to Kurashiki Central Hospital in Japan between April 6 and June 29, 2021, was conducted. ⋯ In the non-BCT group, the ordinal scale was 1.9% with 3, 18.9% with 4, 58.5% with 5, 13.2% with 6, and 7.5% with 7. After adjusting by the IPTW analysis, the BCT group did not have an increased bacterial infection rate [odds ratio (OR), 1.1; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.36-3.38; p=0.87] or 28-day mortality rate (OR, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.07-1.3; p=0.11) compared with the non-BCT group. Conclusion BCT can be administered without increasing the infection risk compared with non-BCT.
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Case Reports
Inflammatory Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm in a Patient with Advanced Lung Adenocarcinoma Treated with Pembrolizumab.
A 57-year-old man with lung adenocarcinoma was treated with chemotherapy and immune checkpoint blockade. After two cycles of carboplatin, pemetrexed, and pembrolizumab, he developed a persistent fever. Chest computed tomography (CT) suggested inflammation of the aortic wall. ⋯ After four cycles of carboplatin, pemetrexed, and pembrolizumab, chest CT showed an aneurysm in the ascending aorta. We diagnosed him with inflammatory thoracic aortic aneurysm induced by pembrolizumab and performed surgical replacement of the ascending aorta. Although this might be a very rare case, we should be aware of aortitis as a potential adverse effect of pembrolizumab.
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A 66-year-old woman underwent partial mastectomy and a sentinel lymph node biopsy for left breast cancer; the pathological diagnosis was invasive ductal carcinoma (pT1aN0, pStage I, triple-negative subtype). Postoperative radiotherapy was performed. Two years later, she developed redness and induration at both breasts. ⋯ After four cycles of dose-dense epirubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by 12 weekly paclitaxel cycles, bilateral total mastectomy and axillary lymph node dissection were performed. At the one-year follow-up after undergoing operation and radiotherapy, she remained alive without recurrence. Dose-dense treatment regimens may help patients achieve complete resection without short-term recurrence.