Primary Effusion Lymphoma: A Rare and Challenging Diagnosis for Recurrent Pleural Effusion.

Primary Effusion Lymphoma is an extremely rare and aggressive subtype of B-cell lymphoma, accounting for only <1% of all cases of this neoplasm. It has a unique clinical presentation because it has a predilection for appearing in body cavities, such as the pleural space, pericardium and peritoneum. It mainly affects immunocompromised individuals and may also affect individuals in the Mediterranean region and in areas endemic for human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8). Herein, we report the case of an 83-year-old immunocompetent male complaining of coughing, fever and progressive dyspnea for 3 days. His past medical history revealed a recurrent pleural effusion for the last three years, as well as losing weight and malaise. A subsequent investigation revealed a PEL diagnosis of the pleura.

Case Report: Azathioprine: An Old and Wronged Immunosuppressant.

Mycophenolate rapidly substituted azathioprine (AZA) in transplant immunosuppression regimens since the 1990s, when early clinical trials indicated better outcomes, although opposite results were also observed. However, none of these trials used the well-established optimization methods for AZA dosing, namely, thiopurine methyltransferase pharmacogenetics combined with monitoring of the thiopurine metabolites 6-thioguanine nucleotides (6-TGN) and 6-methylmercaptopurine (6-MMP). Resistance to optimize AZA therapy remains today in transplant therapy, despite the fact that thiopurine metabolite testing is being used by other medical disciplines with evident improvement in clinical results. In a previous analysis, we found that active 6-TGN metabolites were not detectable in about 30% of kidney transplant patients under continuous use of apparently adequate azathioprine dosage, which demonstrates the need to monitor these metabolites for therapeutic optimization. Two of four case studies presented here exemplifies this fact. On the other hand, some patients have toxic 6-TGN levels with a theoretically appropriate dose, as seen in the other two case studies in this presentation, constituting one more important reason to monitor the AZA dose administered by its metabolites. This analysis is not intended to prove the superiority of one immunosuppressant over another, but to draw attention to a fact: there are thousands of patients around the world receiving an inadequate dose of azathioprine and, therefore, with inappropriate immunosuppression. This report is also intended to draw attention, to clinicians using thiopurines, that allopurinol co-therapy with AZA is a useful therapeutic pathway for those patients who do not adequately form active thioguanine metabolites.

Acute Kidney Injury Due to COVID-19 in Intensive Care Unit: An Analysis From a Latin-American Center.

Introduction: The kidney may be affected by coronavirus (COVID-19) in the setting of acute kidney injury (AKI). Data about AKI in intensive care unit (ICU) patients in Latin America are scarce. We aimed to evaluate the risk of AKI, dialysis (HD), and death in ICU COVID-19 patients in a Brazilian center. Methods: Analysis from medical records of COVID-19 patients in a Brazilian center. Results: A total of 95 patients were analyzed. There was male predominance (64.2%), median age: 64.9 years, and previous history of hypertension and diabetes in 51.6 and 27.4%, respectively. AKI was diagnosed in 54 (56.8%) patients, and 32 (59.2%) of them required HD. Mortality rate was 17.9%. AKI patients when compared with no-AKI were more frequently hypertensive/diabetic and more often needed organ support therapies. Workups depicted more anemia, lymphopenia, and higher levels of inflammatory markers and higher mortality. Comparing patients who had undergone death to survivors, they were older, more frequently diabetic, and had worse SAPS3 and SOFA scores and need for organ support therapies, AKI, and HD. Multinomial logistic regression revealed that hypertension (p = 0.018) and mechanical ventilation (p = 0.002) were associated with AKI; hypertension (p = 0.002), mechanical ventilation (p = 0.008), and use of vasopressor (p = 0.027) to HD patients; and age >65 years (p = 0.03) and AKI (p = 0.04) were risk factors for death. Conclusions: AKI was a common complication of ICU COVID-19 patients, and it was more frequent in patients with hypertension and need of organ support therapies. As well as age >65 years, AKI was an independent risk factor for death.

COVID-19 and Cytomegalovirus Co-infection: A Challenging Case of a Critically Ill Patient with Gastrointestinal Symptoms.

COVID-19 is a severe disease that has reached pandemic status. To the best of our knowledge, we describe the first case of COVID-19 and cytomegalovirus (CMV) co-infection in a critically ill patient. We discuss the challenge of establishing the diagnosis as well as the management of tissue-invasive gastrointestinal CMV infection (TI-GI CMV) simulating vascular involvement and intestinal obstruction in a critically ill patient. LEARNING POINTS: We describe a case of COVID-19 and cytomegalovirus (CMV) co-infection in a critically ill patient.Clinical symptoms simulated mesenteric vascular involvement and intestinal obstruction.The successful management of invasive CMV colitis in a patient with COVID-19 with atypical symptoms is described.