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Tang Harrison posted an update 4 months, 3 weeks ago
COVID-19 is a novel disease best known to cause a cough, fever and respiratory failure. Recently, it has been recognised that COVID-19 may present in multi-systemic ways which can cause diagnostic uncertainty or error.We present a patient who attended hospital with features of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) before developing clinical and radiological findings of COVID-19. this website While the authors recognise that neurological complications have been reported following COVID-19 infection, to their knowledge this report describes a unique presentation of GBS without preceding COVID-19 symptoms.Since these conditions may have considerable overlapping features including respiratory failure and (following prolonged critical care admission) profound weakness, it is possible that one diagnosis may be overlooked. Raising awareness of a possible association between these conditions is important so both are considered allowing appropriate investigations to be arranged to optimise the chance of neurological recovery and survival, while also protecting staff from potentially unrecognised COVID-19.Carotid artery dissection is one of the most common causes of ischaemic stroke in young and middle-aged population. We report a case of bilateral carotid artery dissection presenting with opercular syndrome or Foix-Chavany-Marie syndrome. This 46-year-old obese and hypertensive man with a history of fall from bike 1 week prior, presented with sudden onset of anarthria, dysphagia and deviation of angle of mouth. His speech and dysphagia gradually improved over 10 days to normal, but he developed pseudobulbar affect and difficulty in calculations 4 weeks later. MRI showed acute infarcts in bilateral operculum. CT angiography showed dissection in bilateral cervical ICAs. He was managed conservatively with oral anticoagulation, given for 6 months. Probability of dissection must be considered in patients with a history of trauma or falls developing focal neurological deficits. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of bilateral ICA dissection presenting with Foix-Chavany-Marie syndrome.Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin condition characterised by inflammatory nodules, abscesses, sinus tract formation and scarring. There is a lack of evidence for the use of radical radiotherapy for patients with a diagnosis of HS. A 56-year-old woman with a long-standing diagnosis of HS presented with a cutaneous local recurrence of breast cancer. Radical radiotherapy was offered despite issues with previous prolonged postoperative wound healing associated with the underlying HS. A multidisciplinary evaluation was conducted with breast surgeons, dermatologists and radiation oncologists to assess the safety of delivery of radical radiotherapy. Five weeks post radiotherapy, the patient had no significant residual symptoms from her breast cancer treatment for her HS and no escalation of treatment was required for her HS. Factors contributing to safe delivery of radical radiotherapy include medical optimisation prior to and during treatment, radiation dose, radiation technique and vigilant post-treatment surveillance.Metastatic spread of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) to the gastrointestinal tract is a rare entity. A 63-year-old woman with a history of poorly controlled HIV and a recurrent cSCC on the right temple presented with functional decline, ascites and shortness of breath. A CT scan showed widespread metastatic malignancy involving lung, pleura, heart, stomach, liver, retroperitoneum and soft-tissue. In the case presented here, an upper endoscopy revealed a submucosal lesion in the stomach. Biopsies described the lesion as a poorly differentiated SCC. Comprehensive genomic profiling yielded striking molecular similarities between the gastric tumour and the patient’s prior cSCC. It confirmed the origin of the disease and excluded spread from an occult primary. This case adds to the limited literature on gastrointestinal metastases of cSCC and serves as a reminder that non-AIDS-defining cancers are on the rise in the HIV-population.In the last few years, there has been a significant increase in younger generations using vaping devices as an alternative to smoking. Social media and celebrities have played a major role in its increased popularity. Many consumers believe it to be a relatively safer and healthier choice. We present a case of a 21-year-old, female, non-smoker with vaping exposure who developed severe acute lung injury. Her workup was negative for any other cause of acute lung injury.Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (ERMS) is a malignant neoplasm mostly affecting the genitourinary system of children and is rarely seen in adults. ERMS in uterine cervix is rare and can be misdiagnosed in adult as adenosarcoma or carcinosarcoma. The use of immunohistochemical staining is highly recommended to make sure that the correct diagnosis is reached. To the best of our knowledge, only seven cases of cervical ERMS in women above the age of 50 have been reported in English literature. Herein, we report a rare case of cervical ERMS in a 50-year-old woman that was initially misdiagnosed as an adenosarcoma.The synchronous discovery of leiomyosarcoma (LMS) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the larynx is extremely rare. We describe our experience of managing a patient with this unusual presentation. A 35-year-old man was initially diagnosed with advanced stage (T4bN1M0) laryngeal LMS. Neoadjuvant sarcoma-directed chemotherapy and radiation therapy allowed a successful pharyngolaryngo-oesophagectomy to be performed in an otherwise inoperable cancer. Histological examination of the resection specimen revealed poorly differentiated SCC, indicating the underlying diagnosis was a sarcomatoid carcinoma of the larynx. Considering our limited experience of managing synchronous LMS and SCC of the larynx, it is important to carefully evaluate the natural history, route of spread and pathological characteristics of both tumours, when determining treatment.We present here a case of a 29-year-old woman with a medical history of GATA-2 deficiency, who was under treatment for Mycobacterium avium intracellulare pneumonia. She presented with worsening dyspnoea with cough and fever. It was initially thought she had pneumonia but she was later diagnosed with Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis (PAP).