Cystic Pheochromocytoma with Hypertensive Crisis and Classic Triad Diagnosed Using Point-of-care Ultrasound in the Emergency Department.

Pheochromocytoma is a rare catecholamine-secreting neuroendocrine tumor that commonly presents as hypertensive crisis with the classic triad of headache, sweating, and palpitations. However, it is challenging for emergency physicians to diagnose patients who initially present to the emergency department without a medical history. Here, we present the case of a patient diagnosed with cystic pheochromocytoma using point-of-care ultrasound in the emergency department.

Automatic detection and vascular territory classification of hyperacute staged ischemic stroke on diffusion weighted image using convolutional neural networks.

Automated ischemic stroke detection and classification according to its vascular territory is an essential step in stroke image evaluation, especially at hyperacute stage where mechanical thrombectomy may improve patients' outcome. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of various convolutional neural network (CNN) models on hyperacute staged diffusion-weighted images (DWI) for detection of ischemic stroke and classification into anterior circulation infarct (ACI), posterior circulation infarct (PCI) and normal image slices. In this retrospective study, 253 cases of hyperacute staged DWI were identified, downloaded and reviewed. After exclusion, DWI from 127 cases were used and we created a dataset containing total of 2119 image slices, and separates it into three groups, namely ACI (618 slices), PCI (149 slices) and normal (1352 slices). Two transfer learning based CNN models, namely Inception-v3, EfficientNet-b0 and one self-derived modified LeNet model were used. The performance of the models was evaluated and activation maps using gradient-weighted class activation mapping (Grad-Cam) technique were made. Inception-v3 had the best overall accuracy (86.3%), weighted F1 score (86.2%) and kappa score (0.715), followed by the modified LeNet (85.2% accuracy, 84.7% weighted F1 score and 0.693 kappa score). The EfficientNet-b0 had the poorest performance of 83.6% accuracy, 83% weighted F1 score and 0.662 kappa score. The activation map showed that one possible explanation for misclassification is due to susceptibility artifact. A sufficiently high performance can be achieved by using CNN model to detect ischemic stroke on hyperacute staged DWI and classify it according to vascular territory.

Risk of atrial fibrillation in patients with pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac arrhythmias have a strong association with pneumonia due to the cardiovascular response to infection. Electrocardiographic (ECG) changes in patients with pneumonia are associated with greater disease severity. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common type of cardiac arrhythmia. OBJECTIVE: This population-based cohort study investigated the incidence of AF among Taiwanese adults with pneumonia using data from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. METHODS: A total of 34,883 patients with pneumonia and an equal number of individuals without pneumonia were eligible after excluding those with a previous diagnosis of AF and matching 1:1 by age, sex, and comorbidities. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate hazard ratios for AF in both groups. RESULTS: Patients were more likely to develop AF throughout the 1-year follow-up period after the diagnosis of pneumonia. The incidence of AF was 1.2 (414/334,746) per 1000 person-months. Patients with pneumonia had a 4.08-fold (95% confidence interval 3.37-4.95) increased risk for AF compared to patients without pneumonia. CONCLUSION: Patients with pneumonia exhibited an increased risk for AF, especially in the early period after diagnosis of pneumonia.

CHA2DS2-VASc Score for Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events Stratification in Patients with Pneumonia with and without Atrial Fibrillation.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have shown an association between CHA2DS2-VASc (congestive heart failure, hypertension, age ≥ 75 years, diabetes mellitus, stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), vascular disease, age 65 to 74 years, sex category) score and outcome of acute myocardial infarction, stroke, and chest pain. As pneumonia can affect the cardiovascular system, this study aimed to investigate the performance of the CHA2DS2-VASc score for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) risk stratification in patients with pneumonia. METHODS: A retrospective population-based cohort study including 61,843 patients with pneumonia. These patients were divided into two cohorts that were stratified based on the presence or absence of underlying atrial fibrillation (AF). We calculated the CHA2DS2-VASc score and incidence density rates of MACEs in each cohort. Cox regression was conducted to calculate hazard ratio of MACEs in pneumonia patients. The diagnostic performance of CHA2DS2-VASc with regard to MACEs was tested using the receiver operator characteristic curve. RESULTS: Pneumonia patients with higher CHA2DS2-VASc score were more likely develop MACEs in both the AF and non-AF groups. In the AF group, the areas under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity were 0.824 (0.7773-0.8708), 0.7, and 0.84 respectively. In the non-AF group, the AUC, sensitivity, and specificity were 0.8185 (0.8152-0.8217), 0.75, and 0.83 respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The CHA2DS2-VASc score showed good performance in the prediction of MACE in patients with pneumonia.

Epidemiology and factors associated with mortality of thyroid storm in Taiwan: a nationwide population-based study.

Thyroid storm is a rare and life-threatening disease. However, its prevalence, incidence, and mortality rate in Chinese population are unknown. We performed a retrospective study using the Taiwan Health and Welfare Data. Patients admitted owing to thyrotoxicosis were divided into thyroid storm group and non-thyroid storm group. We assessed thyroid storm prevalence, incidence, complications, and mortality rate. Multiple Cox regression was performed to estimate the hazard ratio for the mortality risk. Overall, 1244 thyroid storm patients and 83,874 thyrotoxicosis patients without thyroid storm were included. Most thyroid storm patients were female (67.9%) with ages ranging from 30 to 44 years (33.4%), and most thyroid storm cases occurred during the summer season. The prevalence of thyroid storm was 1.48% (1244/83,874). The incidence rate of thyroid storm was 0.55 per 100,000 persons per year and 6.28 per 100,000 hospitalized patients per year. The overall 14-, 28-, and 90-day mortality rates of thyroid storm patients were 5.23%, 6.59%, and 8.12%, respectively. Thyroid storm, older age, male, and underlying ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, heart failure, kidney disease, atrial fibrillation, depression, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes mellitus, cancer, end stage renal diseases were associated with a significantly higher risk of mortality. In conclusion, the 90-day mortality rate of thyroid storm was high and was commonly associated with multiorgan failure and shock. Therefore, clinical physicians should identify thyroid storm and treat it accordingly.

Silent Aortic Dissection after the Heimlich Maneuver: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND: The Heimlich maneuver is a simple and universal resuscitative procedure that is performed to relieve foreign-body airway obstruction. We present a case of silent Stanford type A aortic dissection, a rarely reported complication of the Heimlich maneuver. CASE REPORT: A 67-year-old male presented to the emergency department with left-sided hemiplegia shortly after receiving a Heimlich maneuver. Acute ischemic stroke was suspected, and the thrombolytic protocol was initiated. Fortunately, Stanford type A aortic dissection was diagnosed before the thrombolytic therapy was initiated. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Aortic dissection can develop after the Heimlich maneuver. For patients who develop a neurologic deficit after the Heimlich maneuver, vascular dissection should be considered as a possible cause.

Fluid-attenuated inversion recovery vascular hyperintensities in predicting cerebral hyperperfusion after intracranial arterial stenting.

PURPOSE: No reliable imaging sign predicting cerebral hyperperfusion after intracranial arterial stenting (IAS) had been described in the literature. This study evaluated the effect of fluid-attenuated inversion recovery vascular hyperintensities (FVHs), also called hyperintense vessel sign on T2-weighted fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (T2-FLAIR) MR images, in predicting significant increase in cerebral blood flow (CBF) defined by arterial spin labeling (ASL) after IAS. METHODS: We reviewed ASL CBF images and T2-FLAIR MR images before (D0), 1 day after (D1), and 3 days after (D3) IAS of 16 patients. T1-weighted MR images were used as cerebral maps for calculating CBF. The changes in CBF values after IAS were calculated in and compared among stenting and nonstenting vascular territories. An increase more than 50% of CBF was considered as hyperperfusion. The effect of FVHs in predicting hyperperfusion was calculated. RESULTS: The D1 CBF value was significantly higher than the D0 CBF value in stenting vascular, contralateral anterior cerebral artery, contralateral middle cerebral artery, and contralateral posterior cerebral artery (PCA) territories (all P < .05). The D1 and D3 CBF values were significantly higher than the D0 CBF value in overall vascular (P < .001), overall nonstenting vascular (P < .001), and ipsilateral PCA (P < .05) territories. The rate of more than 50% increases in CBF was significantly higher in patients who exhibited asymmetric FVHs than in those who did not exhibit these findings. CONCLUSION: FVHs could be a critical predictor of a significant increase in CBF after IAS.

Undersized angioplasty and stenting of symptomatic intracranial tight stenosis with Enterprise: Evaluation of clinical and vascular outcome.

BACKGROUND: Severe intracranial arterial stenosis results in more than 10% incidence of stroke and transient ischemic attack. Using undersized angioplasty with off-label closed-cell Enterprise stent may be a feasible alternative option for treating patients with intracranial atherosclerotic disease who fail dual-antiplatelet medical therapy. The results of the authors' study are presented in this paper. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 2013 and July 2014, 24 symptomatic patients with a total of 30 intracranial arterial stenotic lesions refractory to medical therapy, who underwent undersized angioplasty and Enterprise stenting, were retrospectively reviewed in the authors' institution. The results evaluated include technical success rate, clinical outcome measured as modified Rankin Scale at presentation and follow-up, peri-procedural morbidity within 30 days and 1 year, and follow-up vessel patency. RESULTS: Stent deployment was successfully achieved in all stenotic lesions (30/30). Mean pre-stent and post-stent diameter residual stenosis was 81% and 18%, respectively. The peri-procedural complication rate during 30 days after stenting was 10% per lesion (3/30), including intracranial hemorrhage, in-stent thrombosis and ischemic stroke. No further thromboembolic event or complication occurred in any patient more than 30 days after stenting. Modified Rankin scale ≤ 2 was observed in 64% and 83% of patients at initial presentation and follow-up (mean 15.8 months), respectively. Imaging follow-up was available in 17 of 24 patients (70.8%) and 20 of 30 treated lesions (66.6%) with a mean follow-up period of 15.4 months. Only one asymptomatic in-stent restenosis occurred in 20 available lesions (5.0%). CONCLUSION: This preliminary study suggests that using undersized angioplasty and Enterprise stenting may effectively treat high-degree symptomatic intracranial arterial stenosis with favorable clinical and angiographic outcome.