BMJ case reports
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Rabies is an almost always fatal disease that physicians and patients dread due to its dismal prognosis and limited treatment options. Transmission of this disease occurs through the bite of dogs and wild animals (like jackal in our case). ⋯ Few people have described the role of imaging in diagnosis. We hereby report a patient with rabies encephalitis, having a history of jackal bite and classical MRI findings that we can use for early diagnosis in the absence of typical clinical features and specialised diagnostic testing.
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An aortic arch floating thrombus is a rare cause of embolic ischaemic cerebral infarction. Previously, thrombolysis or mechanical thrombectomy has been used to treat acute cerebral infarction in this context; however, combination therapy using both modalities is yet to be published. The optimal management of aortic arch floating thrombi is debated. ⋯ He was successfully treated with acute thrombolysis and subsequent mechanical thrombectomy of the cerebral thrombus resulting in resolution of his neurological symptoms. Repeat imaging demonstrated persistence of the aortic arch floating thrombus despite thrombolysis. The aortic arch floating thrombus was managed successfully with direct oral anticoagulant therapy.
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We demonstrate the utility of risk stratification for postoperative delirium in geriatric patients and show that postoperative delirium can be prevented in high-risk patients when potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) (medications that are best avoided in older adults) are avoided. In this case, a 65-year-old woman underwent two debridement procedures with similar presurgical risk for postoperative delirium. ⋯ In the second procedure, PIMs were intentionally avoided and postoperative delirium did not occur. This case supports recent recommendations from the European Society of Anaesthesiology, the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the American Geriatrics Society that providers assess a patient's cognitive function and delirium risk profile preoperatively to appropriately guide perioperative management.
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Establishing accurate symptomatology associated with novel diseases such as COVID-19 is a crucial component of early identification and screening. This case report identifies an adult patient with a history of clotting dysfunction presenting with rare cutaneous manifestations of COVID-19, known as 'COVID-19 toes'', previously described predominantly in children. ⋯ This supports the coagulopathic hypothesis of this manifestation of COVID-19 and provides possible screening questions for patients with a similar history who might be exposed to the virus. Additionally, nervous system complaints associated with this disease are rare and understudied, so this novel symptom may also provide insight into this aspect of SARS-CoV-2.