Project description:IntroductionCysticercosis is caused by parasitic infestation mainly by the larval form of Taenia solium. Orbital cysticercosis may involve both the intraocular structures and orbit particularly the extraocular muscles. The clinical manifestations are caused mainly by the mass effect of the cyst in the initial period resulting in ocular motility restriction and proptosis and depends primarily on the site of the lesion.Case presentationHere we report a case of 27 years old male with orbital apex syndrome secondary to myocysticercosis.DiscussionOrbital myocysticercosis often mimics various eye pathologies like as isolated nerve palsy, orbital pseudotumor, orbital cellulitis. Acute vision loss in a case of orbital cysticerosis is mainly due to compressive optic neuropathy due to cystic lesion of extra ocular muscle or by direct invasion of the optic nerve. In our case, MRI orbit revealed cysticercosis of lateral rectus at orbital apex where it compressed the optic nerve resulting compressive optic neuropathy. Albendazole along with steroid was used as the first-line treatment.ConclusionThis case highlights that Orbital Apex Syndrome Secondary to Myocysticercosis is a rare and can lead to severe visual loss if not managed timely.
Project description:BackgroundOrbital apex syndrome is a symptom complex of visual loss and ophthalmoplegia resulting from a disease involving the orbital apex. It can be caused by inflammation, infection, and malignancies. Mucormycosis is an infection caused by filamentous saprophytes of the order Mucorales. It is ubiquitous, and the infection can occur from ingesting contaminated food, inhaling spores, or injecting the disrupted skin or wounds. It is mainly a disease of the immunocompromised, affecting patients with poorly controlled diabetes, organ transplant recipients, and patients with hematological malignancies. We present the case of a man with orbital apex syndrome resulting from rapidly spreading rhino-ocular cerebral mucormycosis, who had a poor outcome despite an aggressive combined medical and surgical treatment. This is an unusual cause of orbital apex syndrome.Case presentationA 46-year-old Bangladeshi man presented to the emergency department with a history of toothache and pain in the left eye. On examination, the patient had a left-sided periorbital edema, ptosis, and proptosis. He had complete ophthalmoplegia and absent direct pupillary response in the left eye. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and orbit showed bilateral ethmoidal, left frontal, maxillary, and sphenoidal sinusitis with left orbital cellulitis. His left orbit was surgically decompressed and histology confirmed mucormycosis. Despite aggressive treatment, the patient had only a partial improvement in his symptoms.ConclusionsMucormycosis is a rare disease that can easily be misdiagnosed, leading to delayed treatment and disease dissemination. Clinicians must be suspicious of mucormycosis in patients presenting with multiple cranial nerve palsy.
Project description:This paper presents a literature review and a case of an 83-year-old otherwise healthy female patient with a history of recent syncope, a sudden-onset right-sided temporal headache, diplopia, and vision loss. An exam revealed right-sided upper eyelid ptosis, myosis, vision loss, ophthalmoplegia, and a positive relative afferent pupillary defect on the right eye. CT showed sphenoid sinus opacification, eroded lateral sinus wall, Vidian canal, disease extension to the posterior ethmoid air cells, orbital apex, medial orbital wall, and pterygopalatine fossa. An orbital apex syndrome (Jacod's syndrome), Horner syndrome, and pterygopalatine fossa infection were diagnosed due to the acute invasive fungal sinusitis developed from a sphenoid sinus fungal ball. The patient was treated with antimicrobial therapy and transnasal endoscopic surgery twice to decompress the orbital apex, drain the abscess and obtain specimens for analysis. The right-sided ptosis, visual loss, ophthalmoplegia, and headache resolved entirely. No immune or comorbid diseases were identified, microbiological and histopathological analyses were negative, and MRI could not be performed on the presented patient. For that reason, the diagnostic procedure was non-standard. Nevertheless, the treatment outcome of this vision and life-threatening disease was satisfactory. Treating the fungal ball in an older or immunocompromised patient is essential to prevent invasive fungal rhinosinusitis and fatal complications.
Project description:Orbital inflammatory disease is a rarely reported complication of COVID-19 infection. We report a unique case of bilateral orbital myositis in a 12-year-old boy who tested positive for COVID-19 without typical systemic symptoms. Workup for other infectious and inflammatory etiologies was negative. After failing both oral and intravenous antibiotics, the patient was started on high-dose systemic steroids, with significant clinical improvement after 24 hours, thus confirming the inflammatory etiology of his presentation.
Project description:There has been a surge of rhino-orbital mucormycosis cases in India in the wake of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been widely suggested that dysglycemia resulting from diabetes which is a common comorbidity in COVID-19 patients, and indiscriminate steroid use has resulted in this surge. We report a series of 13 cases of rhino-orbital mucormycosis in COVID-19 patients admitted to our center between mid-April and early June 2021. The cases showed a male preponderance, two patients had loss of vision, and four of them showed intracranial extension of disease. Twelve patients had received steroids and 12 had preexisting or newly diagnosed diabetes, both steroid use and diabetes being the most common identified risk factors. Considering other possible risk factors, immunosuppressed state, antiviral or ayurvedic (Indian traditional) medications, and oxygen therapy were not associated with a definite risk of mucormycosis, because they were not present uniformly in the patients. We propose that COVID-19 itself, through molecular mechanisms, predisposes to mucormycosis, with other factors such as dysglycemia or steroid use increasing the risk.
Project description:Despite surviving a SARS-CoV-2 infection, some individuals experience an intense post-infectious Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS) of uncertain etiology. Children with this syndrome (MIS-C) can experience a Kawasaki-like disease, but mechanisms in adults (MIS-A) are not clearly defined. Here we utilize a deep phenotyping approach to examine immunologic responses in an individual with MIS-A. Results are contextualized to healthy, convalescent, and acute COVID-19 patients. The findings reveal systemic inflammatory changes involving novel neutrophil and B-cell subsets, autoantibodies, complement, and hypercoagulability that are linked to systemic vascular dysfunction. This deep patient profiling generates new mechanistic insight into this rare clinical entity and provides potential insight into other post-infectious syndromes.
Project description:BackgroundGood's syndrome (GS) is an adult-onset acquired immunodeficiency, in which patients present with thymoma and hypogammaglobulinemia (HGG). GS is characterized by low to absent peripheral B cells and impaired T-cell mediated immunity, often resulting in various (opportunistic) infections and concurrent autoimmune disorders. In this case report, we present a case of a patient with GS and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection after surgical removal of a thymoma. The simultaneous occurence of these two entities is extremely rare.Case descriptionA 55-year-old man presented with oral lichen planus and cutaneous lesions. Additional symptoms included a weight loss of 5 kilograms in the last six months. Computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET) of the chest showed a large anterior mediastinal mass with a maximum diameter of 10 centimetres. A core needle biopsy was performed, which led to a pathological diagnosis of thymoma type AB. In addition to these earlier findings, laboratory analysis revealed HGG. The combination of a thymoma and HGG led to a diagnosis of GS. Induction chemotherapy with cisplatin-etoposide was started, however, the patient developed COVID-19 after 2 cycles. Treatment with remdesivir was initiated and, subsequently, a thymectomy via sternotomy was performed. Final pathology confirmed a thymoma type AB of 14 centimetres, fully encapsulated, and without invasion. Resection margins were negative and the tumour was classified as pT1aN0, R0 resection. The patient has received immunoglobulin treatments every 4 weeks for his GS and has not developed any new infections since the start of this therapy.ConclusionsPatients with GS are prone to developing (pulmonary) infections. Clinicians should be aware of the possible clinical effects of COVID-19 infections in this patient population.
Project description:BackgroundRecent studies have reported that COVID-19 infected patients with stroke, who were often in the older age group, had a higher incidence of vascular risk factors, and more severe infection related respiratory symptoms. These observations provided little evidence to suggest that COVID-19 infection is a potential causative factor for stroke. This report describes a young patient with a cerebellar stroke secondary to COVID-19 infection.Case presentationA 45-year old male presented at a hospital, reporting a two-day history of headache, vertigo, persistent vomiting, and unsteady gait. Physical examination revealed gaze-evoked nystagmus on extraocular movement testing, left-sided dysmetria and dysdiadochokinesia. He was diagnosed with a left cerebellar stroke. An external ventricular drain was inserted, and sub-occipital craniectomy was performed to manage the effects of elevated intracranial pressure due to the extent of oedema secondary to the infarct. He also underwent screening for the COVID-19 infection, which was positive on SARS-COV-2 polymerase chain reaction testing of his endotracheal aspirate. Blood and cerebrospinal fluid samples were negative. After the surgery, the patient developed atrial fibrillation and had prolonged vomiting symptoms, but these resolved eventually with symptomatic treatment. He was started on aspirin and statin therapy, but anticoagulation was withheld due to bleeding concerns. The external ventricular drain was removed nine days after the surgery. He continued with active rehabilitation.ConclusionsYoung patients with COVID-19 infection may be more susceptible to stroke, even in the absence of risk factors. Standard treatment with aspirin and statins remains essential in the management of COVID-19 related stroke. Anticoagulation for secondary prevention in those with atrial fibrillation should not be routine and has to be carefully evaluated for its benefits compared to the potential harms of increased bleeding associated with COVID-19 infection.
Project description:IntroductionIt has been hypothesized that silent hypoxemia is the cause of rapid progressive respiratory failure with severe hypoxia that occurs in some COVID-19 patients without warning.Presentation of caseA 60-year-old male presented cough without any breathing difficulty. Vital signs showed blood pressure 130/75 mmHg, pulse 84x/minute, respiratory rate (RR) 21x/minute, body temperature 36.5C, and oxygen saturation (SpO2) 75% on room air. RT-PCR for COVID-19 were positive. On third day, he complained of worsening of breath shortness, but his RR was still normal (22x/minute) with SpO2 of 98% on 3 L/minute oxygen via nasal cannula. On fifth day, he experienced severe shortness of breath with RR 38x/minute. He was then intubated using a synchronized intermittent mandatory ventilation. Blood gas analysis showed pH 7.54, PaO2 58.9 mmHg, PaCO2 31.1 mmHg, HCO3 26.9mEq/L, SaO2 94.7%, FiO2 30%, and P/F ratio 196 mmHg. On eighth day, his condition deteriorated with blood pressure 80/40 mmHg with norepinephrine support, pulse 109x/minute, and SpO2 72% with ventilator. He experienced cardiac arrest and underwent basic life support, then resumed strained breathing with return of spontaneous circulation. Blood gas analysis showed pH 7.07, PaO2 58.1 mmHg, PaCO2 108.9 mmHg, HCO3 32.1mEq/L, SaO2 78.7%, FiO2 90%, and P/F ratio 65 mmHg. Three hours later, he suffered cardiac arrest again and eventually died.DiscussionPossible mechanisms of silent hypoxemia are V/Q mismatch, intrapulmonary shunting, and intravascular microthrombi.ConclusionsSilent hypoxemia might be considered as an early sign of deterioration of COVID-19 patients, thus, physician may be able to intervene early and decrease its morbidity and mortality.