Clin. Pract., Volume 6, Issue 2 (April 2016) – 10 articles

Patients with type-1 diabetes are predisposed to develop a spectrum of liver diseases, which includes fatty liver, steatohepatitis and cirrhosis. The association of hepatitis A infection with type-1 diabetes is extremely rare. To the best of our knowledge, our case is the first case report in children. We described a nine year-old girl who had type-1 diabetes and developed hepatitis A virus infection without complications. A review of the literature is also provided. Full article

Severe diarrheal illness in children can be attributed to a number of different microbiological agents. Without appropriate microbiological testing of stool samples, patients who present with multiple days of severe diarrhea might have a delay in proper diagnosis and treatment. Here, we report a case of an immunocompetent pediatric patient presenting with acute cryptosporidiosis. Humans and bovine species are known hosts of cryptosporidium and several studies have evaluated the zoonotic transmission of cryptosporidium from cattle to humans. Adding diagnostic tests for cryptosporidium like Ziehl-Neelsen staining of stool or fecal rapid antigen detection techniques should be considered in the workup of patients presenting with undifferentiated, severe diarrheal illness, especially in those who have close contact with livestock. Full article

Posterior fossa surgery is demanding and hides a significant number of obstacles starting from the approach to the wound closure. The risk of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage in posterior fossa surgery given in the literature is around 8%. The present study aims to introduce a sandwich closure of the dura in posterior fossa surgery, which reduces significantly the number of CSF leaks (3.8%) in the patients treated in our department. Three hundred and ten patients treated in our hospital in the years 2009-2013 for posterior fossa pathologies were retrospectively evaluated. The dura closure method was as following: lyophilized dura put under the dura and sealed with fibrin glue and sutures, dura adapting stitches, TachoSil® (Takeda Pharma A/S, Roskilde, Denmark), Gelfoam® (Pfizer Inc., New York, NY, USA) and polymethylmethacrylate (osteoclastic craniotomy). The incidence of postsurgical complications associated with the dural closure like CSF leakage, infections, bleeding is evaluated. Only 3.8% of patients developed CSF leakage and only 0.5% needed a second surgery for CSF leakage closure. Two percent had a cerebellar bleeding with no need for re-operation and 3% had a wound infection treated with antibiotics. The sandwich wound closure we are applying for posterior fossa surgery in our patients correlates with a significant reduction of CSF leaks compared to the literature. Full article

A 19-year-old male subject was diagnosed with medial meniscal, lateral meniscal and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear. The symptoms did not subside after 4 months of physical therapy, and he underwent arthroscopic partial medial and lateral meniscectomy and ACL reconstruction. Immediately after the patient woke up from general anesthesia, he started experience loss of sensation in the area of superficial peroneal nerve with inverted dorsiflexion of foot and ankle. Instantly, the bandage and knee brace was removed and a diagnosis of compartment syndrome was ruled out. After eight hours, post-operatively, the patient started receiving physiotherapy. He complained of numbness and tingling in the same area. After 24 h, post-operatively, the patient started to regain dorsiflexion and eversion gradually. Two days after the surgery, the patient exhibited complete recovery of neurological status. Full article

Triorchidism is the commonest variety of polyorchidism, an entity with more than two testis is an extremely rare congenital anomaly of the testis. Although excision of the abnormal testis is a safer alternative proposed, recent literature suggests more conservative approach in normal testes with watchful regular follow up to screen for malignancy. This case presented as a left inguinal swelling diagnosed as indirect left inguinal hernia. The left side testis was of smaller size (about half) with normal sperm count, morphology and motility. Intraoperatively indirect inguinal hernia was noted with supernumerary testis at deep ring in addition to normal left testis in left scrotal sac. The ectopic testis were small (2.5×2.5×1 cm) lacking epididymis and with short vas deferens. An evident normal semen analysis and varied anatomy, the decision for orchidectomy of ectopic testis was taken. The histopathological finding was consistent with arrest in germ cell development. Full article

Treatment of chronic pain is challenging. The Arkys project was initiated in Italy to assist general practitioners (GPs) in the management of chronic pain. The main objective of this study was to determine the usefulness of Arkys for selecting new therapeutic strategies. An online interactive questionnaire for assessing pain and guiding therapeutic decisions was made available to GPs participating to Arkys. The GPs were invited to complete the questionnaire for each patient who presented moderate-severe chronic pain, and to decide on a new analgesic treatment based on the information provided by the questionnaire. Two hundred and forty four GPs participated with a total of 3035 patients. Patients (mean age 68.9 years) had mostly chronic non-cancer pain (87.7%). In 42.3%, pain had neuropathic components. Only 53.6% of patients were in treatment with analgesics (strong opioids, 38.9%; NSAIDs, 32.6%; weak opioids, 25.6%; anti-epileptics, 17.3%; paracetamol, 14.9%). Use of the questionnaire resulted in the prescription of analgesics to all patients and in increased prescription of strong opioids (69.7%). NSAID prescription decreased (12.8%), while anti-epileptics use remained stable. These findings show that current management of chronic pain in primary care is far from optimal and that efforts are needed to educate GPs and improve guideline implementation. Full article

Hepatic artery aneurysms are rarely diagnosed. It is mainly because of non specific symptoms. They are generally an incidental findings during imaging studies. They are usually detected in the sixth decade, predominantly in men. We report herein a case of an 80 year-old man with a huge hepatic artery aneurysm revealed by abdominal pain and chronic anemia. It was treated by embolisation. Hepatic artery aneurysms are second among visceral aneurysms. They may cause abdominal pain, jaundice and hemorrhagic events. Full article

Metastatic deposits to the oral cavity are exceptionally rare. The commonest tumor types metastasizing to the oral cavity include lung and breast carcinoma. Renal cell carcinoma is believed to be the third most common infra clavicular tumor to metastasize to the head and neck. We report a case where an oral cavity deposit was the initial presentation for an occult clear cell renal carcinoma. Additional therapeutic options, including immunotherapy, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and participation in a clinical trial, should be discussed with the patient despite the poor overall prognosis. Full article

A greater auricular nerve (GAN) block was used as the sole anesthetic for facial surgery in an 80-year-old male patient with multiple comorbidities which would have made general anesthesia challenging. The GAN provides sensation to the ear, mastoid process, parotid gland, and angle of the mandible. In addition to anesthesia for operating room surgery, the GAN block can be used for outpatient or emergency department procedures without the need for a separate anesthesia team. Although this nerve block has been performed using landmark-based techniques, the ultrasoundguided version offers several potential advantages. These advantages include increased reliability of the nerve block, as well as prevention of inadvertent vascular puncture or blockade of the phrenic nerve, brachial plexus, or deep cervical plexus. The increasing access to ultrasound technology for medical care providers outside the operating room makes this ultrasound guided block an increasingly viable alternative. Full article

In childhood, chest pain occurring at exercise is a common complaint. A cardiac etiology for it is exceptionally found, explaining that most children do not undergo systematic cardiological investigation. However, chest pain at exercise may manifest as the unique symptom of a viral myocarditis. Recognizing this form of myocardial injury, however, might help to avoid clinical deterioration by providing adequate care. In this paper, we report on two children presenting with the unique clinical symptom of chest pain related to physical activity and in whom laboratory and cardiac investigations suggested transient myocardial damage related to myocarditis. Full article