Catastrophic calciphylaxis in a patient with lupus nephritis and recent onset of end-stage renal disease.
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Painful violaceous skin lesions that progress to non-healing ulceration and gangrene characterize calciphylaxis. These lesions are associated with secondary hyperparathyroidism and generally occur in patients on dialysis for more than one year. Hyperphosphatemia and hypoalbuminemia are the major risk factors for calciphylaxis. It is usually resistant to medical treatment although parathyroidectomy can help in controlling the disease. The mortality rate of calciphylaxis is very high due to uncontrollable sepsis. In our case, a young female with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) developed calciphylaxis within a short period after the onset of hemodialysis; she had a short period of hyperphosphatemia prior to dialysis. The serum phosphate was 4.24 mmol/L, calcium was 1.66 mmol/L, parathormone was 38 and calcium-phosphate was 7.0 mmol/L. It is likely that SLE provoked the development of calciphylaxis. The patient was treated medically but unfortunately died secondary to sepsis. (+info)
Health payment-induced poverty under China's New Cooperative Medical Scheme in rural Shandong.
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Second-impact syndrome and a small subdural hematoma: an uncommon catastrophic result of repetitive head injury with a characteristic imaging appearance.
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Damage control: cavoatrial anastomosis during a catastrophic right intrapericardial pneumonectomy.
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While undergoing an intrapericardial pneumonectomy for a massive right pulmonary inflammatory pseudotumor that had invaded the mediastinum, an 18-year-old woman experienced a nearly fatal iatrogenic complication. Dense scarring adjacent to the pseudotumor had drawn in the superior vena cava posterolaterally and fused the right main pulmonary artery to the right superior pulmonary vein within the pericardium. The failure of a linear stapler to secure the pulmonary vessels led to torrential hemorrhage. Attempts to control the bleeding resulted in inadvertent superior vena cava occlusion and central venous pressure elevation. Because cardiopulmonary bypass might not have been reliably established in time to avoid irreversible cerebral ischemia, we borrowed a technique from congenital heart surgery and rapidly fashioned a cavoatrial connection. The patient survived the operation without negative neurologic or cardiac sequelae, recovered fully, and had no recurrence of the pseudotumor. Herein, we describe the intraoperative decisions that were made under intense time pressure to avert catastrophe. (+info)
Examining catastrophic health expenditures at variable thresholds using household consumption expenditure diaries.
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