Journal of medical case reports
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Case Reports
Headache and transient visual loss as the only presenting symptoms of vertebral artery dissection: a case report.
Vertebral artery dissection is an important cause of stroke in the young and diagnosis is often challenging as symptoms are varied and subtle. ⋯ We describe an atypical case of vertebral artery dissection presenting with sudden transient visual disturbance without neurological signs in an otherwise healthy man. This is a rare but potentially fatal condition that can result in thromboembolic infarction. A high index of suspicion is crucial to make an early diagnosis and avoid devastating neurological outcomes.
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Internal jugular vein thrombosis is a rare vascular event with a potentially fatal outcome. Of the known etiologies, internal malignancies, either known or occult, are well described. Even though malignancies are known to present with internal jugular vein thrombosis, it rarely occurs due to prostate carcinoma. Many cases of jugular vein and superior vena cava thrombosis secondary to malignancies are due to metastatic compression of veins. Recurrent and unusual vascular thrombosis due to hypercoagulability associated with malignancies is also known as Trousseau's syndrome. Here we report a rare case of a patient with internal jugular vein thrombosis as a presenting feature of metastatic prostate carcinoma, which is a case of Trousseau's syndrome. ⋯ Spontaneous thrombosis of the internal jugular vein due to Trousseau's syndrome is rare and unusual. Clinicians should promptly investigate for malignancies as it can be the first presentation of underlying occult malignancies. Although prostate carcinomas are rare to present with internal jugular vein thrombosis, this case illustrates the importance of having a high degree of suspicion in the appropriate clinical setting.
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Review Case Reports
Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of the small intestine mimicking acute appendicitis: a case report and review of the literature.
Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor is a rare tumor of a borderline malignancy. Although it is commonly seen in children, the number of childhood cases in the current literature is limited. The lung is the most commonly affected location. However, cases that have been documented in the mesentery-omentum have mostly been located in the mesentery of the small bowel and not in the antimesenteric edge as in our patient. ⋯ Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of the small intestine is a rare, benign neoplasm in children that should be considered as a possible cause of acute abdomen. A precise diagnosis can be made on the basis of histologic findings. Surgical excision is the treatment of choice.
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Case reports are an increasing source of evidence in clinical medicine. Until a few years ago, such case reports were emerged into systematic reviews and nowadays they are often fitted to the development of clinical (thinking) models. We describe this modern progress of knowledge creation by the example of the trigeminocardiac reflex that was first described in 1999 by a case series and was developed over the cause-and-effect relationship, triangulation to systematic reviews and finally to thinking models. Therefore, this editorial not only underlines the increasing and outstanding importance of (unique) case reports in current science, but also in current clinical decision-making and therefore also that of specific journals like the Journal of Medical Case Reports.