Acute occlusion of the left renal artery manifested by hypertensive crisis.

Because the signs and symptoms of acute renal artery occlusion mimic those of many more common diseases, prompt diagnosis is aided by an awareness that an occlusive renovascular event may have occurred. No routine, noninvasive laboratory test can confirm the diagnosis. Renal arteriography is the procedure of choice after excretory urograms have ruled out an obstructive uropathy. Early assessment of kidney viability is important. The endpoints of emergency treatment are to decrease symptoms, decrease diastolic blood pressure to less than or equal to 105 mm Hg, and to maintain urine output at greater than 50 mL/h. Restoration of a lower blood pressure must not be so prompt that renal perfusion decreases too rapidly. Definitive surgical treatment versus medical management of the renal artery occlusion remains a controversial topic. Where surgery is not feasible, medical management consists of streptokinase acutely followed by heparin and then chronic coumarin therapy.

Acute pseudotumor of the orbit.

A case is presented of a 22-year-old man with a history of bilateral eye injection, lacrimation, and rhinorrhea. The right orbit was inflamed and its globe proptotic, with medial and lateral gaze deficits. Tomography revealed swelling about the right lacrimal gland. He was admitted and treated with high-dose steroids, which caused regression of his symptoms. This presentation and response to steroids is pathognomonic for acute pseudotumor of the orbit, a condition rarely described in the emergency medicine literature. If left untreated, pseudotumor of the orbit may progress to blindness and ophthalmoplegia.