Acute Cholecystitis in a Gastric Bypass Patient Complicated by Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy.

Background: Gallbladder disease is a common condition after gastric bypass surgery. Even after weight loss, many bariatric patients continue to suffer from comorbid conditions. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a rare condition that mimics acute cardiac ischemia but seems to be caused by a catecholamine storm triggered by intense stress. Case Report. A 62-year-old female presented with acute right upper quadrant (RUQ) pain to the ER. She had a history of laparoscopic gastric bypass 5 years ago and had been noncompliant for 2 years. This noncompliance included missing follow-up appointments, gaining weight which caused poorly controlled DM, and not taking her vitamin supplements. Upon presentation, her WBC was elevated, her LFTs were normal, and imaging showed acute calculous cholecystitis. She was admitted and started on antibiotics with plans for laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The next day, she developed acute chest pain, and troponins were elevated with ST changes on EKG. Echocardiography showed a ballooned left ventricle indicative for Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Symptomatic treatment including antibiotics, betablocker, and thiamine infusion was initiated. At three-month follow-up, ejection fraction had improved from <20% to >50%. The patient underwent interval laparoscopic cholecystectomy, which was technically very challenging due to severe ongoing acute and chronic cholecystitis. There were no cardiac issues, but the patient developed an abscess in the gallbladder fossa, which was successfully treated with oral antibiotics. Conclusions: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy complicating acute cholecystitis has thus far not been reported. Our patient had a history of gastric bypass and was noncompliant with vitamin supplementation. Thiamine deficiency may have contributed to the cardiac condition (wet beriberi).

A distinctive type of widespread congenital melanocytic nevus with large nodules.

We report an unusual case of congenital melanocytic nevus presenting in a 19-year-old African woman as widespread papules and variably sized nodules and tumors affecting the entire body, including the palms, soles, and oral mucous membrane. Histopathologic examination of 3 representative skin lesions showed mainly dermal aggregations of round to oval, focally pigmented, monomorphous melanocytes, arranged in nodular and plexiform patterns. Scattered areas with spindle-shaped dendritic melanocytes surrounded by fibrosis were also noted in the center of the lesions. The clinical and histopathologic findings were similar to those in 2 other previously reported cases, except that in 1 of the earlier cases the skin nodules were composed of spindle-shaped cells, suggesting a type of blue nevus. The findings in our case indicate a broader spectrum of morphologic features in this condition, with dermal aggregations of melanocytes showing congenital features, representing a common histopathologic denominator. Based on this observation, we suggest the term "widespread congenital dermal nevus with large nodules" to be the most appropriate for this rare, but distinctive, type of congenital nevus.