Crack lung: pulmonary disease caused by cocaine abuse.

A patient developed 3 separate episodes of fever, transient pulmonary infiltrates, and bronchospasm after inhalation of cocaine. The illness was associated with eosinophilia, pruritus, and an elevated IgE level, indicating an immunologic pathogenetic mechanism. This is a complication of cocaine abuse not previously reported.

Sonographic detection of interstitial pregnancy.

Interstitial pregnancy is a rare form of ectopic pregnancy that carries a higher morbidity and mortality than other tubal pregnancies. The sonographic findings in 11 cases of proven interstitial pregnancy were reviewed and compared with 12 cases published thus far. An ectopic pregnancy was diagnosed in all cases, and an interstitial location was suspected in five cases preoperatively. An eccentrically located gestational sac surrounded by an asymmetric myometrial mantle and a separate empty uterine cavity with endometrial echoes were the most common findings in our cases. When an interstitial pregnancy is suspected by sonography, confirmation by laparoscopy is recommended.

Congenital sensorineural hearing loss.

The ears of 47 selected patients with congenital sensorineural hearing loss were examined with complex-motion tomography. The patients were divided into 3 general categories: those with a recognized syndrome, those with sensorineural hearing loss unrelated to any known syndrome, and those with microtia. A great variety of inner ear anomalies was detected, but rarely were these characteristic of a particular clinical entity. The most common finding was the Mondini malformation or one of its variants. Isolated dysplasia of the internal auditory canal or the vestibular aqueduct may be responsible for sensorineural hearing loss in some patients. Patients with microtia may also have severe inner ear abnormalities despite the fact that the outer and inner ears develop embryologically from completely separate systems.