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Query: UMLS:C0018681 (headache)
 56,091 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A 49-year-old male chemical industry worker was admitted to intensive care with a 24-hour history of respiratory failure, vomiting, headache, stupor, arterial hypotension, and cyanosed face and limbs. He had acute haemolysis (3.9 g/L plasma haemoglobin concentration) and 30% methaemoglobinaemia. Whereas the search for alcohol, barbiturates and opiates was negative, benzodiazepines and tricyclic antidepressants were present. The patient was in fact being treated with fluvoxamine, amitryptiline, and alprazolam. As the clinical and biological signs suggested chlorate poisoning, chlorate was looked for by using an aniline color reaction. It was found in gastric content and urine. Treatment consisted in mechanical ventilation, vasoactive amines, methylene blue, plasma exchange, exchange transfusion, and haemodialysis. Despite this, the patient had several cardiac arrests and refractory metabolic acidosis. He died 12 h after his admission. Specific ion chromatography was used afterhand to assay the chlorate in various body fluids. The technique was based on a separation on an ion exchange Dionex AS 12A column coupled with conductivity detection. A quantitative estimation was carried out by using external calibration with a four-point calibration curve which was linear between 1 and 15 mg/L. The measured plasma levels of chlorate were 78 and 29 mg/L respectively before and after exchange transfusion. Gastric-lavage liquid contained 1300 mg/L of chlorate and urine 4300 mg/L. Ion chromatography, which is routinely used in environmental studies helped to confirm a massive oral intake of chlorate by measuring the corresponding blood and urine chlorate concentrations, data which had only rarely been reported previously.
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PMID:A fatal case of chlorate poisoning: confirmation by ion chromatography of body fluids. 1078 77

More than 95% of reported cases of disseminated toxoplasmosis following BMT have occurred following an unmodified transplant. Most have been fatal, diagnosed at autopsy and without antemortem institution of specific therapy. From 1989 to 1999, we identified 10 cases of disseminated toxoplasmosis, in 463 consecutive recipients of a T cell-depleted (TCD) BMT. Transplants were from an unrelated donor (n = 5), an HLA-matched sibling (n = 4) or an HLA-mismatched father (n = 1). In 40%, both the donor and recipient had positive IgG titers against T. gondii pre-transplant; in 30%, only the recipient was sero-positive. Three recipients of an unrelated TCD BMT developed toxoplasmosis despite both donor and host testing negative pretransplant. All 10 patients presented with high grade fever. CNS involvement ultimately occurred in seven patients, with refractory respiratory failure and hypotension developing in nine. Eight of 10 cases were found only at autopsy, involving the lungs (n = 7), heart (n = 5), GI tract (n = 5), brain (n = 8), liver and/or spleen (n = 5). The only survivor, treated on the day of presentation with fever and headache, was diagnosed by detection of T. gondii DNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) performed on the blood and spinal fluid. This study demonstrates the similar incidence of toxoplasmosis following TCD BMT and that reported post T cell-replete BMT, and underscores the need for rapid diagnostic tests in an effort to improve outcome.
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PMID:Disseminated toxoplasmosis following T cell-depleted related and unrelated bone marrow transplantation. 1080 65

Esophageal cancer in advanced stages grows to occlude the esophageal lumen; presenting symptoms include dysphagia and weight loss. Esophageal cancer rarely grows to occupy a narrow column of the esophagus or manifests neurologic symptoms. We report the case of a 58-year-old man with a history of tobacco and alcohol abuse and chronic obstructive airway disease who presented with headaches, left-sided weakness, unsteady gait, and weight loss. Physical examination showed left-sided weakness. Computed tomographic scan of the brain and chest revealed, respectively, a right frontoparietal mass and a tumor mass in the distal esophagus. The patient's weakness and headaches improved after treatment with dexamethasone and craniotomy with partial enucleation of the brain lesion. An esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed a large, elongated mass in the esophagus. Pathologic analyses of biopsies of the esophageal mass showed mixed adenosquamous carcinoma. The brain mass histology showed poorly differentiated carcinoma. Several weeks after craniotomy, the patient developed respiratory failure and died. While it appears that the esophageal cancer metastasized to the brain, there is the possibility of other undetected primary tumor with metastasis to the brain. Nonetheless, the endoscopic appearance and clinical presentation of this case are unusual and noteworthy.
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PMID:Esophageal cancer: an unusual endoscopic appearance and presentation. 1082 16

Patients suffering from neuromuscular diseases and thoracic deformities may develop global respiratory failure during their illness. We wanted to judge clinical parameters and information from the patients' medical history to reliably, quickly and noninvasively diagnose a ventilatory failure. Therefore we evaluated 105 situations with and without mechanical ventilation from 29 patients with indication for noninvasive nocturnal mask ventilation. 6 clinical parameters (e.g. heart rate, oxygen saturation, relative vital capacity), 2 test results (pH and partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2)) and 6 parameters from the patients' medical history (e.g. nycturia, frontal headache in the morning, breathlessness) were investigated. After statistical evaluation we could show a relation between heart rate and pCO2 (Spearman's correlation: r = 0.331, p = 0.001, n = 105; one-tailed significance: r = 0.335, p = 0.038, n = 29). Significant differences between the groups of nycturia incidence indicate a tight relation between the incidence of nycturia and the height of hypercapnia levels (ANOVA--analysis of variance: p = 0.001). Using logistic regression we could show that information regarding medical history, especially nycturia, frontal headache and indrawings, gives important indications for global respiratory failure (sensitivity 97.62-100%, specificity 57.14-76.19%). Pathogenesis needs to be elaborated further.
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PMID:[Importance of medical history in diagnosis of respiratory insufficiency in patients suffering from neuromuscular diseases and thoracic deformities]. 1138 81

Tuberculous meningitis is a very rare, but serious extrapulmonary complication of mycobacterial infections in immunocompromised patients, such as organ transplant recipients. We describe here a 66-year-old Turkish woman without any history of tuberculosis, who received a renal allograft transplant in 1994. After a pilgrimage to an endemic area for tuberculosis, she presented with fever and headache in August 1998. Clinical examination revealed positive meningism and hyperreflexia. Lymphocytosis was noted in her cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection was detected by PCR within the CSF. Despite immediate triple antituberculosis therapy, the patient's clinical condition deteriorated rapidly, with the development of septic shock syndrome, and she died three weeks after admission due to cardiovascular and respiratory failure. Mycobacterial infections, including extrapulmonary manifestations, should thus be considered in all renal transplant recipients presenting with unexplained fever. Preventive therapy, i.e. isoniazid prophylaxis, may also be recommended for patients risking exposure in areas endemic for tuberculosis.
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PMID:Tuberculous meningitis in a renal transplant recipient. 1193 35

A 63-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of a large, firm tumor in the upper region of the anterior chest wall. The tumor measured 8 x 10 cm in diameter. A diagnosis of chondrosarcoma of the sternum was made cytologically from a percutaneous fine needle aspiration biopsy. The primary tumor was completely resected, but the sternum, ribs and clavicles were only partially resected. Another tumor was detected five months after resection and metastasis to the brain was recognized in December 2000. The patient, now suffering headaches and vomiting due to the intracranial hemorrhage around the metastatic lesion in the brain, was readmitted. Although temporary improvement of his general condition was achieved by conservative treatment, he suddenly died of respiratory failure because of multiple tumor emboli in the pulmonary artery. This was a very interesting case in that the chondrosarcoma was of sternal origin and was complicated by tumor emboli in the pulmonary artery.
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PMID:[A case of sternal chondrosarcoma with multiple pulmonary embolisms]. 1197 74

Scrub typhus is an acute febrile illness caused by infection with Orientia tsutsugamushi transmitted by the bite of larval trombiculid mites (chiggers). A prospective study was conducted in septic shock patients in Maharat Hospital, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand, from 12 November 2001 to 5 January 2002. Of the 51 septic shock patients studied during the 7 week period, 18 (35.3%) were found to have evidence of scrub typhus infection; 3 patients (16.7%) died. In this study, septic shock caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi is the most prominent (35.3%) in endemic area of scrub typhus. Scrub typhus with septic shock patients results in organ failure: respiratory failure, DIC were predominant, followed by renal and hepatic involvement. Two deaths were due to respiratory failure and one death was as a result of combined respiratory and renal failure. Fever was the most common symptom, followed by headache, myalgia and dyspnea; lymphadenophathy and eschar are common signs. Laboratory findings revealed that almost all of the patients had a mild leukocytosis, reduced hematocrit and thrombocytopenia; SGOT, ALP, direct bilirubin (DB), total billirubin (TB), BUN, Cr were elevated; hypoalbuminemia was noted. Urinalysis showed that 88.9% of the patients had albuminuria. 77.8% of patients had abnormal chest X-rays.
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PMID:Septic shock secondary to scrub typhus: characteristics and complications. 1275 26

We performed an observational analysis of prospectively collected data on 1,474 adult patients who were hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia; 1,169 patients were under 80 years of age and 305 (21%) patients were over 80 years ("very elderly"). Mean patient ages were 60 years in the former group and 85 years in the latter group. Severely immunosuppressed patients and nursing-home residents were not included. Comorbidities significantly associated with older age were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic heart disease, and dementia. The most common causative organism was Streptococcus pneumoniae (23% in both groups). Aspiration pneumonia was more frequent in the very elderly (5% in younger patients versus 10% in the very elderly); Legionella pneumophila (8% in younger patients versus 1% in the very elderly) and atypical agents (7% in younger patients versus 1% in the very elderly) were rarely recorded in the very elderly. While very elderly patients complained less frequently of pleuritic chest pain, headache, and myalgias, they were more likely to have absence of fever and altered mental status on admission. No significant differences were observed between groups as regards incidence of classic bacterial pneumonia syndrome (60% versus 59%) in 343 patients with pneumococcal pneumonia. The development of inhospital complications (26% in younger versus 32% in very elderly patients) as well as early mortality (2% in younger versus 7% in very elderly patients) and overall mortality (6% in younger versus 15% very elderly patients) were significantly higher in very elderly patients. Acute respiratory failure and shock/multiorgan failure were the most frequent causes of death, especially of early mortality. Factors independently associated with 30-day mortality in the very elderly were altered mental status on admission (odds ratio, 3.69), shock (odds ratio, 10.69), respiratory failure (odds ratio, 3.50), renal insufficiency (odds ratio, 5.83), and Gram-negative pneumonia (odds ratio, 20.27).
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PMID:Community-acquired pneumonia in very elderly patients: causative organisms, clinical characteristics, and outcomes. 1279 2

Leptospirosis is an infectious disease of variable severity characterized by sudden onset of headache, myalgia and prostration. Although most common in the tropics, an increasing number of cases is reported in Europe and Northern America. Severe forms referred to as Weil's disease commonly involve kidneys, liver, lungs, CNS and heart and require early recognition and immediate initiation of adequate therapy. We describe 3 patients with Weil's syndrome from an urbanized region in Southern Germany, who developed renal and respiratory failure. PCR facilitated early diagnosis, and therefore, specific treatment before serological tests were positive. Illustrating the case histories, initial presentations and clinical courses, we point out difficulties with early diagnosis and treatment. Furthermore, we offer a comprehensive overview on leptospirosis with emphasis on renal involvement, current diagnostic tools and evidence-based therapy.
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PMID:Leptospirosis--3 cases and a review. 1287 57

Noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation (NPPV) should be considered a standard of care to treat COPD exacerbations in selected patients, because NPPV markedly reduces the need for intubation and improves outcomes, including lowering complication and mortality rates and shortening hospital stay. Weaker evidence indicates that NPPV is beneficial for COPD patients suffering respiratory failure precipitated by superimposed pneumonia or postoperative complications, to allow earlier extubation, to avoid re-intubation in patients who fail extubation, or to assist do-not-intubate patients. NPPV patient-selection guidelines help to identify patients who need ventilatory assistance and exclude patients who are too ill to safely use NPPV. Predictors of success with NPPV for COPD exacerbations have been identified and include patient cooperativeness, ability to protect the airway, acuteness of illness not too severe, and a good initial response (within first 1-2 h of NPPV). In applying NPPV, the clinician must pay attention to patient comfort, mask fit and air leak, patient-ventilator synchrony, sternocleidomastoid muscle activity, vital signs, hours of NPPV use, problems with patient adaptation to NPPV (eg, nasal congestion, dryness, gastric insufflation, conjunctival irritation, inability to sleep), symptoms (eg, dyspnea, fatigue, morning headache, hypersomnolence), and gas exchange while awake and asleep. For severe stable COPD, preliminary evidence suggests that NPPV might improve daytime and nocturnal gas exchange, increase sleep duration, improve quality of life, and possibly reduce the need for hospitalization, but further study is needed. There is consensus, but without strong supportive evidence, that COPD patients who have substantial daytime hypercapnia and superimposed nocturnal hypoventilation are the most likely to benefit from NPPV. Adherence to NPPV is problematic among patients with severe stable COPD.
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PMID:Noninvasive ventilation for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. 1473 24


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