Pericardial rupture of mediastinal mature cystic teratoma: An unusual cause of pediatric acute chest pain.

A previously healthy 12-year-old girl presented to the emergency department with severe chest pain and dyspnea that woke her from sleep. She had short-term syncope just before the emergency admission. On physical examination, respiratory rate was 26 breaths per minute while resting, and blood pressure was 92/56 mmHg. Other physical examination findings were insignificant. She had no past medical history, and her family history was unremarkable. Laboratory test results showed elevated C-reactive protein (27 mg/L; reference range: <5 mg/L) and white blood cell count (13.7 K/µL; reference range: 4-12 K/µL). Other laboratory test results were within normal limits, including troponin T value (3 ng/L; reference range: 3-14 ng/L). An electrocardiogram showed 1 mm ST-segment elevation in bipolar (D1 and D2) limb leads, and augmented vector foot leads, and echocardiography revealed a complicated pericardial effusion and a suspicious mass adjacent to the left ventricle.

An Experimental Study on Timing in Tracheal Stenosis Surgery.

BACKGROUND: TNF-α, IL-6, and TGF-ß are important bio mediators of the inflammatory process. This experimental study has investigated inflammatory biomarkers' efficacy to determine the appropriate period for anastomosis surgery in tracheal stenosis cases. METHODS: First, a pilot study was performed to determine the mean stenosis ratio (SR) after the surgical anastomosis. The trial was planned on 44 rats in four groups based on the pilot study's data. Tracheal inflammation and stenosis were created in each rat by using micro scissors. In rats of groups I, II, III, and IV, respectively, tracheal resection and anastomosis surgery were applied on the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th weeks after the damage. The animals were euthanized 8 weeks later, followed by histopathological assessment and analysis of TNF-α, IL-6, and TGF-ß as biochemical markers. RESULTS: Mean SR of the trachea were measured as 21.9 ± 6.0%, 24.1 ± 10.4%, 25.8 ± 9.1%, and 19.6 ± 9.2% for Groups I to IV, respectively. While Group III had the worst SR, Group IV had the best ratio (p = 0.03). Group II had the highest values for the biochemical markers tested. We observed a statistically significant correlation between only histopathological changes and TNF-α from among the biochemical markers tested (p = 0.02). It was found that high TNF-α levels were in a relationship with higher SR (p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: Tracheal anastomosis for post-traumatic stenosis is likely to be less successful during the 4th and 6th weeks after injury. High TNF-α levels are potentially predictive of lower surgical success. These results need to be confirmed by human studies.

An unusual cause of spontaneous pneumothorax: Post-COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis.

Spontaneous pneumothorax (SP) is characterized by the escape of broncho-alveolar air into presence of air in the pleural space without preceding blunt or penetrating trauma. SP requires prompt diagnosis and treatment. SP is divided into two groups as primary and secondary. Primary SP is usually seen in tall and thin patients with no clinically evident underlying lung disease (especially in tall and thin subjects), whereas secondary SP cases have an underlying lung disease, such as cystic lung disease, cavitary lung lesions, severe asthma, emphysema or pneumonia. Patients with Coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) may experience the SP during the diagnosis and treatment processes, and it is a significant cause of morbidity. However, late-onset SP after recovering from COVID-19 is unusual. Herein we present a case with post-COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis-like changes and subsequent late onset spontaneous pneumothorax (SP). We also present the patient's radiological findings.

Superior Strategy in Benign Tracheal Stenosis Treatment: Surgery or Endoscopy?

INTRODUCTION: Due to the variations in (laryngeal) tracheal stenosis (TS) patient groups, there is still no consensus on which patient should be treated with endoscopy or surgery. The aim of the present study was to generate an algorithm in the light of the related literature and the data obtained from a clinic where both endoscopic and surgical treatments are conducted. METHOD: A retrospective analysis was performed on the data of a total of 56 patients during 2013 to 2019. A total of 38 patients were subject to surgery with 31 as a first treatment option and 7 due to the unsatisfactory results of endoscopic treatments. Endoscopic approaches were tried on a total of 29 patients with 25 as initial treatment and 4 due to postsurgical recurrence. RESULTS: Symptomatic full control ratio was determined as 69% with endoscopic treatments, 89.5% in subglottic stenosis (SGS) surgery (n = 19), and 89.5% in trachea surgery (n = 19). However, success rates with no recurrence were determined, respectively, as 40.0, 36.4, and 36.4% for patients subject to dilatation, stent, or T tube treatment. Dilatation was observed to be successful in patients with stenotic segment lengths of less than 1.5 cm (p = 0.02). Failure rates increased in SGS (p = 0.03) and TS (p = 0.12) in the surgical group with increasing stenotic segment length. The presence of comorbidities was not effective on treatment success. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic methods are preferred in cases of web-like stenosis. Surgical methods should first be considered for other patients and endoscopic methods should be used on patients who are not suited for surgery or in cases of postsurgical recurrence.