Varicella-Zoster Meningitis in an Immunocompetent Male without Fever or Rash.

Varicella-Zoster virus (VZV) is a human herpesvirus that primarily causes chickenpox and can reactivate later in life. Chickenpox occurs mostly in children and is characterized by a typical generalized vesicular rash. Following the primary infection, VZV can remain latent and can reactivate decades later to produce Zoster, being more common in the elderly as well as immunosuppressed individuals. The diagnosis of both the primary and reactivation is mostly clinical from the typical rash. However, when presentations are atypical, it leads to diagnostic challenges. We report an unusual case of VZ reactivation in an immunocompetent young adult presenting without fever, zoster rash, or neuralgia. The diagnosis was established by a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) performed on cerebrospinal fluid samples. The patient was treated with acyclovir and responded very well. The diagnosis of VZ meningitis is challenging in the absence of typical features of Zoster rash and requires a high index of suspicion.

Missed esophageal and gastric cancers after esophagogastroduodenoscopy in a midwestern military veteran population.

OBJECTIVES: Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) with biopsy has become the standard procedure for diagnosing esophageal and gastric cancers (EGC) and is considered to have high sensitivity and specificity. To date, few studies have attempted to examine the rates of missed EGC after EGD and no study addresses the rate of missed EGC in a military veteran patient population. This led to us examine missed EGCs at our VA Medical Center across a 10-year period. METHODS: An electronic database was used to identify patients who were diagnosed between 2000 and 2010 as having EGC. Missed cancers were defined as cancers diagnosed within 1 year of EGD, possible missed cancers as those diagnosed 1 to 3 years after EGD, and latent cancers as those diagnosed between 3 and 5 years after EGD. RESULTS: A total of 94 patients fulfilled the study criteria: 69 had esophageal cancer and 25 had gastric cancer diagnosed at our institution during the study period. Of the included cases, one patient had a missed cancer (1.06%) and four patients had possible missed cancers (4.26%); no patients had latent cancer. CONCLUSIONS: The true incidence of missed EGC in military veteran patients is not known. It is difficult to compare our findings to those of other studies because of the heterogeneity of studies. Our study echoes the findings of the others: EGD remains an important and effective tool in diagnosing EGC. At the same time, it also points out an important limitation, that EGC can be missed on EGD. Our findings also emphasize the importance of obtaining biopsies of any abnormality and timely clinical follow-up and by repeat EGD as needed.

Successful implanted pacemaker for an extreme inhibitory reflex syncope evoked by post herpetic trigeminal neuralgia.

Syncope is defined as a transient loss of consciousness due to cerebral hypoperfusion characterized by rapid onset, short duration, and spontaneous complete recovery. Numerous causes of syncope have been described. Vasovagal syncope is the most common with a number of precipitants. We report a case of post herpetic trigeminal neuralgia leading to neurocardiogenic syncope. These episodes were preceded by severe stabbing left frontal headaches followed by significant sinus bradycardia, asystole, and syncope requiring pacemaker implantation. To our knowledge only one previous case of post herpetic trigeminal neuralgia leading to syncope has been reported. .

Acute buried bumper syndrome.

Buried bumper syndrome (BBS) is an uncommon complication of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube placement. This unusual phenomenon occurs when the internal bumper of a PEG tube erodes and migrates through the gastric wall and becomes lodged anywhere between the gastric wall and the skin. If not removed and treated appropriately, it can lead to life-threatening complications. It is considered to be a late complication, with most cases occurring from months to years later. We present an unusual case of a very rapid development of BBS, along with a brief review of contributing factors and treatment recommendations.

Giant ulcerated lipoma of the colon causing iron deficiency anemia successfully treated with endoscopic ultrasound-assisted resection.

Colonic lipomas are frequently small and asymptomatic. Giant colonic lipoma (GCL) is an uncommon finding at endoscopy, and ulceration with occult blood loss leading to iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is even rarer. The choice of therapeutic procedure to treat symptomatic GCLs has been controversial. We hereby report a case of an ulcerated GCL that presented with occult bleeding and IDA. IDA resolved after the GCL was removed successfully combining endoloop ligation and snare cautery technique under endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) guidance. With the advent of EUS, endoscopic resection of submucosal tumors can be performed relatively safely by providing a viable and useful alternative to surgery.

Thrombophilia-hypofibrinolysis and atherothrombotic cardiovascular disease < or = age 45 years.

Thrombophilia-hypofibrinolysis may play an important role in rare premature (< or = age 45 years) arterial occlusive events in atherothrombotic cardiovascular (ATCVD) disease, particularly in normolipidemic patients. Whether thrombophilia-hypofibrinolysis contributed to ATCVD < or = age 45 years was assessed in 78 men and 40 women with 230 ATCVD events (myocardial infarction (MI) [n = 60], coronary artery bypass graft [CABG, n = 33], angioplasty [n = 52], chronic angina [n = 41], ischemic stroke [n = 11], transient ischemic attack [TIA, n = 24], claudication [n = 9]). Cases were compared with healthy normal adult controls (44 men and 76 women). In men, the Factor V Leiden mutation was present in 6/63 (10%) cases versus 0/44 (0%) controls (P = 0.042), Factor VIII was high (>150%) in 16/60 (27%) cases versus 1/42 (2%) controls (P = 0.001), Factor XI was high (>150%) in 9/57 (16%) cases versus 0/42 (0%) controls (P = 0.009), and plasminogen activator inhibitor activity (PAI-Fx) was high (>21.1 U/mL) in 15/63 (24%) cases versus 3/43 (7%) controls (P = 0.023). In women, protein C was low (<73%) in 4/26 (15%) cases versus 0/74 (0%) controls (P = 0.004), and free protein S was low (<66%) in 5/27 (19%) cases versus 2/74 (3%) controls (P = 0.014). In women, Factor XI was high (>150%) in 3/27 (11%) cases versus 1/74 (1%) controls (P = 0.057), and the lupus anticoagulant was present in 9/32 (28%) cases versus 2/51 (4%) controls (P = 0.002). In patients with ATCVD < or = age 45 years, thrombophilias (Factor V Leiden, Factor VIII, Factor XI, protein C and S deficiency, lupus anticoagulant) and hypofibrinolysis (PAI-Fx, Lp[a]) may promote arterial thrombosis, which is synergistic with atherosclerotic endothelial injury.

Rosuvastatin 5 and 10 mg/d: a pilot study of the effects in hypercholesterolemic adults unable to tolerate other statins and reach LDL cholesterol goals with nonstatin lipid-lowering therapies.

BACKGROUND: Patients with high levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) might not tolerate 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors ("statins") because of adverse effects (AEs) and might not respond well enough to nonstatin lipid-lowering therapies (LLTs) to meet LDL-C goals. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the acceptability, effectiveness, and safety profile of rosuvastatin 5 and 10 mg/d in consecutively referred patients with primary high LDL-C who were unable to tolerate other statins because of myalgia and, subsequently in some cases, unable to reach LDL-C goals with nonstatin LLT. METHODS: This prospective, open-label pilot study was conducted in consecutively referred male and female patients aged 38 to 80 years with primary high LDL-C (mean, 177 mg/dL) at The Cholesterol Center, Jewish Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio. Patients were instructed in the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATP III) therapeutic lifestyle changes diet. Rosuvastatin 5 mg/d was administered to patients categorized by NCEP ATP III risk stratification as moderately high risk, and rosuvastatin 10 mg/d was administered to patients categorized as high or very high risk. End points included acceptability (assessed using patient-initiated discontinuation of rosuvastatin), effectiveness (absolute and percentage reductions in LDL-C and triglycerides), and safety profile (aspartate and alanine aminotransferases [AST and ALT, respectively] >3 times the laboratory upper limit of normal [xULN] or elevations in creatine kinase [CK]>10xULN). RESULTS: A total of 61 patients were enrolled (41 women, 20 men; mean [SD] age, 60 [10] years; 5-mg/d dose, 25 patients; 10-mg/d dose, 36 patients). Myalgia, a predominant AE, had caused 50 patients to previously discontinue treatment with atorvastatin; 30, simvastatin; 19, pravastatin; 5, fluvastatin; 2, ezetimibe/simvastatin; and 1, lovastatin. Eighteen patients subsequently failed to reach LDL-C goals with nonstatin LLT(s) alone (colesevelam, 10 patients; ezetimibe, 8; niacin extended release, 2; and fenofibrate, 1). After a median treatment duration of 16 weeks, rosuvastatin 5 mg/d+diet was associated with a mean (SD) decrease from baseline in LDL-C of 75 (34) mg/dL (mean [SD] %Delta, -42% [18%]) (P<0.001 vs baseline). After a median treatment duration of 44 weeks, rosuvastatin 10 mg/d+diet was associated with a mean (SD) decrease from baseline in LDL-C of 79 (49) mg/dL (mean [SD] %Delta, -42% [24%]) (P<0.001 vs baseline). Of the 61 patients, 1 receiving the 10-mg/d dose discontinued rosuvastatin treatment because of unilateral muscular pain after 4 weeks; no AST or ALT levels were >3xULN, and no CK levels were >10xULN. CONCLUSION: In these 61 hypercholesterolemic patients unable to tolerate other statins and, subsequently in some cases, unable to meet LDL-C goals while receiving nonstatin LIT monotherapy, these preliminary observations suggest that rosuvastatin at doses of 5 and 10 mg/d+diet was well tolerated, effective, and had a good safety profile.