Patient with clinical and laboratory picture compatible with acute infectious mononucleosis with Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV). Although he still feels weak, his condition is slowly improving. There is a gradual disappearance of the fever episodes and rash, in parallel with gradual normalization of the liver enzymes results, and disappearance of atypical lymphocytes. The reactivation of Herpes labialis can be explained by the stress involved in the EBV infection or the Cortisone treatment.
47-year-old female who had the onset of persistent vertigo. The first evaluations revealed right beating nystagmus on gaze straight and to the right, unsteady gait with limb ataxia, and positive head thrust to the left. Improvement seemed to be occurring in that gait deviation with eyes closed was no longer present. Vestibular physical therapy exercises were started. On the next evaluations there was paroxysmal positional vertigo from the left ear and minimal neurosensory hearing loss. An audiogram showed minor neurosensory deafness.
15 years old patient presented with clinical syndrome of fever, fatigue, and diarrhea. Laboratory findings showed severe anemia with findings of microangiopathic hemolysis (schistocytes, hyperbilirubinemia, elevated LDH) and severe thrombocytopenia. He was later documented to have fluctuating ADAMTS13 activity that appeared to correlate with the hematologic abnormalities. He also had urinary findings of hematuria, moderate proteinuria, and creatinine as high as 1.4 mg/dL.
18 years old male. 4 months ago the patient was hospitalized due to epigastric abdominal pain, lack of appetite and weight loss. He was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.
Hepatic biopsy, that was performed during this hospitslization, showed evidence of an overlap syndrome picture (cholangitis/hepatitis). He was initially treated with Cortisone and Azathioprine.
The patient is a 21 month old female who was born prematurely (at almost 29 weeks) weighing only 650g. She was released after 3 months from NICU, when she was 41 weeks old, weight 2kg. Her parents did not have any problems till she was 5 months old. Her major problems since have been: poor feeding, failure to gain weight and linear growth retardation. The poor feeding has been handled by an NG tube and later, food administration through a direct gastric tube via a gastrostomy.
21-month-old female who was born at almost 29 weeks weighing only 650g and with birth height of 31 cm. Her major problems have been poor feeding, failure to gain weight and linear growth retardation. The poor feeding has been handled by an NG tube and subsequently, food administration through a direct gastric tube via a gastrostomy. She gradually gained weight to the extent of being overweight for her height. Laboratory evaluation revealed low absolute numbers of neutrophils low lymphocyte count. Endocrynology and Genetics workup were normal.
A 47 years old female underwent total thyroidectomy for papillary carcinoma of the thyroid, followed by treatment with radioactive Iodine (I131).
Since then, the patient has been suffering from severe facial pain (left>right), dry mouth and recurrent local infections. She was diagnosed with bilateral sialadenitis, and was repeatedly treated with endoscopy and repeat washing. Medical treatment for neurogenic pain wasn't helpfull, as well as visits to different salivary gland specialists.
21-year-old female with an acute onset of a unilateral sixth cranial nerve deficit. Brain MRI showed at least a dozen white matter lesions, one of them contrast-enhancing. Sensory evoked potentials showed a bilateral increase in latency. Multiple sclerosis was diagnosed, and the patient was treated by corticosteroids, followed by improvement of symptoms. The first follow-up revealed no focal neurological signs with a history of a transitory unilateral lower limb hyposthenia. On the second visit, a horizonto-rotatory nystagmus and irregular paraesthesia in the right toes are documented.
51-year-old female with vitamin D deficiency among other medical problems: high blood pressure, episodes of transient syncope, and sleep apnea. In the expert's opinion frequent changes and discontinuations of drugs as well as big intervals between one dose to another, can be responsible for hypertensive crisis. Therefore the expert recommends to stop too frequent investigations , and instead focus on appropriate treatment, that should be combination of Angiotensin Receptor Blocker and diuretics.
