Journal of medical case reports
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Vertebral artery dissection has become increasingly recognized as an important cause of stroke. It usually presents with posterior headache or neck pain followed within hours or days by signs of posterior circulation stroke. To the best of our knowledge, the clinical presentation of a Brown-Séquard syndrome with a vertebral artery dissection has been reported only once before. ⋯ We report a case of an unusual presentation of a relatively uncommon condition. This diagnosis should be considered early in relatively young patients with stroke-like symptoms or unexplained neck pain, because missing a dissection can result in adverse outcomes.
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Complications of copper load intrauterine devices, including ectopic pregnancies are well reported. Rates of ectopic pregnancy are 0.6 to 1.1% per year. However, the levonorgestrel intrauterine device has been described as more protective against ectopic pregnancies due to the addition of the hormone levonorgestrel. The hormone released from the intrauterine device causes some systemic effects, but local effects such as glandular atrophy and stromal decidualization, in addition to foreign body reaction, are dominant. Few case reports have described ampullary ectopic pregnancies. However, we report, for the first time, a major complication of levonorgestrel intrauterine device: a cornual pregnancy. ⋯ Many complications have been described, including ectopic pregnancies, using copper intrauterine devices. The levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system is a particularly good choice for adolescents because of associated non-contraceptive benefits such as decreased menstrual bleeding, dysmenorrhea and pain associated with endometriosis [1]. Yet a cornual pregnancy following the use of a levonorgestrel intrauterine device is a complication which, to our knowledge, has not been described before. Physicians prescribing this type of intrauterine device should be aware of this rare event.
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According to the International Association for the Study of Pain criteria of 1994, pain is a diagnostic requirement for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome type I. However, other authors have suggested that patients can rarely present with the sensory and vascular symptoms of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome without pain. This entity has not been reported following hip surgery in the English medical literature. ⋯ The authors believe these symptoms are manifestations of vascular changes to the lower limb as a result of non-weight bearing status. Painless Complex Regional Pain Syndrome-like symptoms may occur in patients who are kept non-weight bearing following hip surgery. However, vascular insufficiency and deep venous thrombosis must be excluded before this diagnosis is made. If the clinical situation permits, early weight bearing may relieve symptoms. Orthopaedic and vascular surgeons should be aware of this entity when a postoperative patient presents to them with the above clinical picture. This is also relevant to general practitioners who are likely to see the patients in the postoperative period.
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Nerve damage in leprosy patients leads to deformities and disabilities. Oral corticosteroids are given early to prevent permanent injury. We present a new approach to treat well-established nerve damage with local injection of corticosteroids. ⋯ We report the first case of successful nerve regeneration in neglected neuropathy secondary to leprosy after local injection of corticosteroids. Intraneural extra-fascicular injection of corticosteroids improved the sensory and motor nerve function in our patient with borderline leprosy regardless of the duration of nerve function loss.
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Lemierre's syndrome is septic thrombophlebitis of the internal jugular vein leading to metastatic septic complications following an oropharyngeal infection. It is usually caused by the anaerobe, Fusobacterium necrophorum. Of late, meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is increasingly being recognised as a cause of community-acquired skin and soft tissue infections. We report a rare case of Lemierre's syndrome caused by community-acquired meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection. ⋯ Lemierre's syndrome, although rare, is a potentially lethal but treatable complication of head and neck sepsis. Early clinical recognition of Lemierre's syndrome and appropriate antibiotic treatment can be life-saving. One should consider the possibility of community-acquired meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection in patients with suspected Lemierre's syndrome.