Journal of medical case reports
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Little is known about the effects of social isolation in the elderly on their process of gaining health information and seeking health care. ⋯ This case suggests that intense social isolation after the Fukushima disaster was a likely contributor to the patient delay, poor treatment course, and poor outcome of an elderly patient with rectal cancer. Direct communication with family and friends may play an indispensable role in increasing health awareness and promoting health-seeking behaviors, and in the midst of social isolation, elderly patients with cancer may lose these opportunities and experience increased risk of patient delay. Although health care providers may be able to alleviate isolation-induced delay by promoting cancer knowledge and awareness widely among local residents, policy-led interventions at the community level may be essential to reducing social isolation and its health consequences.
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Castleman disease is a rare lymphoproliferative disorder presenting with localized or disseminated lymphadenopathy and systemic manifestations. It can be categorized in numerous ways, such as unicentric versus multicentric, histopathological variants (hyaline-vascular, plasma cell, and mixed), or subtypes based on causative viral infections (human immunodeficiency virus, human herpesvirus-8, or Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus). Presentation ranges from asymptomatic to symptoms involving multiple organs. Even though the exact mechanism of pathogenesis is unknown, treatment is directed toward possible etiologies such as interleukin-6, cluster of differentiation 20, and viral agents. ⋯ Castleman disease has a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations, disease pathogeneses, and associations and/or complications. Medical professionals need to be familiar with this spectrum because timely diagnosis and aggressive targeted therapy are the cornerstones of managing these patients.
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Review Case Reports
Visceral artery pseudoaneurysms: two case reports and a review of the literature.
Visceral artery pseudoaneurysms are relatively rare but have a high mortality rate in case of rupture. Their detection in the last decades is rising due to an increased use of computed tomography and angiography. However, due to the nonspecific nature of the clinical symptoms and signs, diagnosis is often delayed or missed. We describe two cases of patients presenting with nonspecific abdominal complaints and anemia leading to a diagnosis of visceral pseudoaneurysm. Both cases are successfully treated with a different endovascular intervention. ⋯ We report two cases of visceral pseudoaneurysms and review the literature concerning etiology, presentation, diagnosis, and treatment. Visceral artery pseudoaneurysms should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a patient with nonspecific abdominal symptoms. Diagnosis is often made with computed tomography or computed tomography angiography but digital angiography remains the gold standard. Treatment options include surgical, endovascular or percutaneous interventions. The choice of treatment is case specific.