Utility of esmolol in thyroid crisis.

Thyroid storm is an uncommon but potentially life-threatening manifestation of hyperthyroidism. Mortality can be 30-60% in hospitalized patients unless appropriately treated by combined therapy. We report a case of a 25-year-old African American woman with past medical history of Graves disease and moderately persistent asthma who presented to the emergency department with signs and symptoms of thyrotoxic crisis. Therapy instituted and included the use of an esmolol infusion for control of hypersympathetic activity. A review of the clinical presentation, diagnosis, and management of thyrotoxic crisis is presented along with a discussion on the choice of beta blockade therapy.

Atraumatic Clostridial myonecrosis: case report and literature review.

Clostridial myonecrosis (CM) is a rare, life-threatening infection that is most often associated with recent surgery or skeletal muscle trauma. It usually affects patients with some degree of underlying immunocompromise or vascular insufficiency. Occasionally, CM can occur at remote sites, with seeding from a gastrointestinal source in the setting of malignancy. We report a case of a 75-year-old man who developed rapidly progressive myonecrosis in the right shoulder, without prior trauma, caused by Clostridium septicum. On autopsy, this patient was found to have previously undiagnosed radiation colitis with ulcerations and abscess formation, secondary to recent prostate cancer radiation therapy. Although several case reports discuss CM in the setting of bowel malignancy, our case illustrates that non-malignant bowel inflammation may be a sufficient source for the infection. Clinical features of this uncommon disease are discussed, and the relevant literature is reviewed with regard to Clostridium septicum as an etiologic agent.