Assessing the Impact of Comorbid Hypercalcemia on Inpatient Outcomes of Patients With Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma During Admission for Chemotherapy.

Introduction Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) may be complicated by hypercalcemia at various stages of treatment. The impact of hypercalcemia on chemotherapy admission outcomes in DLBCL is not well described.  Methods In a retrospective analysis, using the National Inpatient Sample database (2018 - 2020), patients with DLBCL admitted for chemotherapy were dichotomized based on the presence of hypercalcemia. Our primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes included length of stay (LOS), total charge, rate of acute kidney injury (AKI), tumor lysis syndrome (TLS), hyperkalemia, metabolic acidosis, acute encephalopathy, septic shock, Clostridiodes difficile infection, acute respiratory failure, and venous thromboembolic events (VTE). Results We identified 78,955 patients, among whom 1,375 (1.74%) had hypercalcemia. Hypercalcemia was associated with higher odds of all-cause mortality (aOR:3.05, p-value:0.020), TLS (aOR:8.81, p-value<0.001), acute metabolic encephalopathy (aOR:4.89, p-value<0.001), AKI (aOR:5.29, p-value<0.001), hyperkalemia (aOR:2.84, p-value:0.002), metabolic acidosis (aOR:3.94, p-value<0.001) and respiratory failure (aOR:2.29, p-value:0.007) and increased LOS by 1 day and total charge by 12, 501 USD. Conclusions In patients with DLBCL admitted for inpatient chemotherapy, those with hypercalcemia compared to a cohort without had higher odds of; all-cause mortality, TLS, AKI, acute encephalopathy, acute metabolic acidosis, hyperkalemia, and acute respiratory failure as well as higher LOS and total charge.

A Chronic Cough and Something More: An Unusual Presentation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Liver cancer is one of the main contributors to cancer-related death and is the fifth most frequent cancer worldwide. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common of liver cancers, is most frequently diagnosed incidentally during routine imaging in high-risk patients with cirrhosis. However, patients with advanced disease may present with upper abdominal pain, early satiety, weight loss, and a palpable upper abdominal mass. We describe a case of HCC in a 69-year-old male presenting exclusively with an intractable cough, which improved after transarterial chemoembolization-raising awareness of the importance of having a systematic and physiopathology-based approach to chronic cough to have an adequate diagnosis and treatment.