“A British six-year-old boy has become the first person in the world to have a heart valve widened using an MRI scan for guidance rather than X-ray imaging.” http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8448787.stm The catheters for the pulmonary valvuloplasty were stiffened with glass fibre instead of the usual steel wire. Being able to monitor with MRI means less radiation […]
Category: Cases in the news
Botulism case in Scotland
There are reports of a case of an infant with botulism in Scotland. “A 16-week-old baby boy is fighting for his life after being diagnosed with botulism. Logan Douglas was admitted to hospital in Edinburgh where doctors spotted signs of the rare disease and ordered a test. Health protection experts said there had not been […]
Rapid genome analysis for complex diagnoses
A rapid genome analysis that took only 10 days helped make the correct diagnosis in a critically ill 5 month old Turkish boy. http://opa.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=6988 “In a dramatic illustration of the power of emerging genetic technologies, Yale University researchers have reported making a clinical diagnosis for the first time using comprehensive DNA sequencing of all the […]
Autologous stem cell therapy for heart failure plus artificial heart bridge
Autologous stem cell therapy for a diseased heart using an artificial heart to bridge for time has been performed in Greece by an Oxford surgeon. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/8274259.stm “Prof Stephen Westaby, from the John Radcliffe Hospital, led the operation on Ioannis Manolopoulos in Greece. He used an artificial heart to relieve Mr Manolopoulos’s heart while it was […]
YouTube case series of sporting injuries yields new clinical sign.
A case series of YouTube sporting injuries has identified what could be a useful clinical sign for sports coaches. The ‘fencing response’ (tonic posturing) is an immediate sign and is associated with moderate head injury. It seems to be a separate entity from convulsions, which may also occur, and since it is a clinical sign […]
Intravenous zanamivir
A young woman with severe H1N1 pneumonitis who was previously neutropenic with chemotherapy for Hodgkin’s disease has responded to intravenous zanamivir (Relenza) and methylprednisolone. Her case is reported in the Lancet.1 Although the use of intravenous zanamivir is unlicensed it exists and is being studied as part of a clinical trial2 (with oral Oseltamivir) in […]
Bloody tears. Tears as in ‘rip’ or tears as in ‘cry’?
News reports of the mother of Calvino Inman desperately looking for doctors that have experience of managing patients with “bloody tears” have been reported over the last few days treating the condition as a medical mystery. (Thanks to CasesNetwork for Tweeting!). nydailynews.com thisislondon.co.uk dailymail.co.uk However, it seems that she should go no further than her […]
Unexpected visual gain with gene therapy suggests new areas for research
A pseudo-fovea develops in the gene-therapy treated eye of a patient in a Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis trial. The authors show analysis of this region of cone function outside the fovea and compares it with the early fovea gain seen in the other patients in the trial. “The unexpected late emergence of visual gain in [this] […]
Phase 1 trial of Talaporfin (Laserphyrin / NPe6) in neurofibromatosis treats first patient
Not a full case report or a medical first but it is the first patient in a phase 1 trial of this intriguing, light-activated chemotherapy drug in children with plexiform neurofibromas. “Light Sciences Oncology, Inc. (LSO) today announced the treatment of the first patient in an investigator-sponsored Phase 1 pediatric study of its novel light-activated […]
Heart transplant record holder dies of cancer
“Heart transplant recipient (Tony Huesman) who lived a record 31 years with a single donated organ has died at age 51 of cancer, his heart still going strong, his widow said.” Associated Press 12th August 2009 When he received the heart transplant in 1978 he was told he may have had 5 years to live. […]