Acute stent occlusion due to heparin induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis during carotid artery stenting.

Heparin induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis is a potential complication of any procedure following previous heparin exposure. A case is described of acute in-stent occlusion during carotid stenting due to heparin induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis. Management options are also discussed.

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis associated with Pasteurella multocida meningitis.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a case of Pasteurella multocida meningitis associated with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM). CASE REPORT: A 33-year-old woman employed in a dog pound presented herself to hospital with fever and meningismus and was found to have culture positive Pasteurella multocida meningitis. Despite appropriate antibiotic treatment her clinical course was characterized by a persistent fever and worsening encephalopathy, which prompted further neurological investigation. Spinal fluid exam and serial MRI scans as well as her one-year clinical course were found to be compatible with ADEM. CONCLUSION: Persistent fever and worsening encephalopathy in meningitis may indicate a para-infectious immune process such as ADEM, and may serve as indications for further neurological investigation.

Did publication of a clinical practice guideline recommendation to screen for type 2 diabetes in women with gestational diabetes change practice?

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) were screened postpartum for type 2 diabetes according to the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) guidelines. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The 1998 CDA guidelines recommend that all women diagnosed with GDM be screened postpartum for type 2 diabetes using a 2-h 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The impact of and compliance with this expert opinion-based recommendation is unknown. All women who delivered at the Ottawa Hospital in 1997 (pre-guideline) and 2000 (post-guideline) with confirmed GDM were identified. Using population-based administrative databases, we determined the proportion of these women who had an OGTT, serum glucose test, or glycated hemoglobin (GHb) test in the first postpartum year. Women who had not undergone any blood work were excluded. RESULTS: There were 131 women in 1997 and 123 women in 2000 with confirmed GDM. Of these, only 69 women in 1997 and 52 women in 2000 had blood work recorded in the database. None of these women had an OGTT performed in either period. We found a significant increase in the measurement of serum glucose (50 women pre-guideline [72.1%], 48 women post-guideline [92.3%], P < 0.05) and GHb (8 women pre-guideline [11.6%], 20 women post-guideline [38.5%], P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In our region, physicians are not following the CDA recommendations to screen women with GDM postpartum with an OGTT. However, we did find a significant increase in the measurement of serum glucose and GHb. Publication of expert opinion-based guidelines did not change the postpartum use of an OGTT in these women but may have increased the use of less reliable screening tests for type 2 diabetes.