Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0033687 (proteinuria)
 24,015 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

HELLP syndrome continues to be a clinical entity of difficult diagnosis. Weinstein first defined it in 1982 giving the practicing obstetrician a sequence of useful initials (H = hemolysis; EL = elevated liver enzymes; LP = low platelets). Since then a lot has been written and it has become clear that the syndrome is a form of severe preeclampsia. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology does not include HELLP in the description of severe pre-eclampsia as such but does accept each of its components as being part of severe pre-eclampsia. The case presented deals with a 33 year old white female, admitted at 27 weeks gestation with nausea, epigastric pain resembling acute abdomen, nose bleeding and mild hypertension. The analysis revealed an abnormal liver profile with elevated GOT, GPT and LDH, heavy proteinuria (14.4 g/day), decreased platelet count (92000/mm3) and elevated total bilirubin. Pregnancy was terminated by cesarean section 24 hours after admission because the patient's condition was deteriorating. Obviously in pre-eclampsia/eclampsia there is a systematic injury to all tissues. Proof of this is the hypertension as a consequence of vascular spasm and proteinuria due to glomerular injury. In HELLP the sequence of events is probably altered; hepatic injury precedes vascular and renal injury of conventional preeclampsia. The syndrome results from many clinical and pathological symptoms derived from endothelial microvascular injury which determine a rapid platelet activation causing vascular spasm, platelet aggregation and further endothelial injury through a feedback mechanism.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
 ...
PMID:[Massive proteinuria and HELLP syndrome]. 130 8

Hantaviruses, the causative agents of HFRS, have become more widely recognized. Epidemiologic evidence indicates that these pathogens are distributed worldwide. People who come into close contact with infected rodents in urban, rural and laboratory environments are at particular risk. Transmission to man occurs mainly via the respiratory tract. The epidemiology of the hantaviruses is intimately linked to the ecology of their principal vertebrate hosts. Four distinct viruses are now recognized within the hantavirus genus and that number is likely to increase to six very soon; however, further investigations are necessary. Much more work is still needed before we fully understand the wide spectrum of clinical signs and symptoms of HFRS as well as the pathogenicity of the different viruses in the hantavirus genus of the Bunyaviridae family. HFRS is difficult to diagnose on clinical grounds alone and serological evidence is often needed. A fourfold rise in IgG antibody titer in a 1-week interval, and the presence of the IgM type of antibodies against hantaviruses are good evidence for an acute hantavirus infection. Physicians should be alert for HFRS each time they deal with patients with acute febrile flu-like illness, renal failure of unknown origin and sometimes hepatic dysfunction. Especially the mild form of HFRS is difficult to diagnose. Acute onset, headache, fever, increased serum creatinine, proteinuria and polyuria are signs and symptoms compatible with a mild form of HFRS. Differential diagnosis should be considered for the following diseases in the endemic areas of HFRS: acute renal failure, hemorrhagic scarlet fever, acute abdomen, leptospirosis, scrub typhus, murine typhus, spotted fevers, non-A, non-B hepatitis, Colorado tick fever, septicemia, dengue, heartstroke and DIC. Treatment of HFRS is mainly supportive. Recently, however, treatment of HFRS patients with ribavirin in China and Korea, within 7 days after onset of fever, resulted in a reduced mortality as well as shortened course of illness.
 ...
PMID:Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. 257 14

Vasculitis in children is uncommon and hardly any information is available from India. We, at PGIMER, Chandigarh, have diagnosed and followed many children with vasculitis of different types though not all, which occur in children. In this article, we have given an overview of the vasculitides that we have encountered along-with a review of relevant literature. We have described 8 children with classical PAN and have highlighted a higher frequency of CNS involvement in our patients. Amongst the 10 BCPAN children, as many as 8 had peripheral gangrene which resulted in auto-amputation in 7. Gangrene of such severity has not been previously reported in this condition. We have also included 30 children with HSP. Gastrointestinal involvement was noted in 86.7% of children and in one of these, it was severe enough to result in hypovolemic shock. Such severe bleeding is very rare. Two of our patients with HSP came late to us after having been operated for an 'acute abdomen' elsewhere. Although renal involvement was seen less frequently than reported in the literature, the severity of involvement was greater (nephrotic range proteinuria in 62% and azotemia in 50%). We have only limited experience of Kawasaki Disease but it appears that children with this disorder are probably not being diagnosed in the acute stage in our country.
 ...
PMID:Vasculitis in children. 1083 7

Lassa fever, an endemic zoonotic viral infection in West Africa, presents with varied symptoms including fever, vomiting, retrosternal pain, abdominal pain, sore-throat, mucosal bleeding, seizures and coma. When fever and abdominal pain are the main presenting symptoms, and a diagnosis of acute abdomen is entertained, Lassa fever is rarely considered in the differential diagnosis, even in endemic areas. Rather the diagnosis of Lassa fever is suspected only after surgical intervention. Therefore, such patients often undergo unnecessary surgery with resultant delay in the commencement of ribavirin therapy. This increases morbidity and mortality and the risk of nosocomial transmission to hospital staff. We report 7 patients aged between 17 months and 40 years who had operative intervention for suspected appendicitis, perforated typhoid ileitis, intussuception and ruptured ectopic pregnancy after routine investigations. All seven were post-operatively confirmed as Lassa fever cases. Four patients died postoperatively, most before commencement of ribavirin, while the other three patients eventually recovered with appropriate antibiotic treatment including intravenous ribavirin. Surgeons working in West Africa should include Lassa fever in the differential diagnosis of acute abdomen, especially appendicitis. The presence of high grade fever, proteinuria and thrombocytopenia in patients with acute abdomen should heighten the suspicion of Lassa fever. Prolonged intra-operative bleeding should not only raise suspicion of the disease but also serve to initiate precautions to prevent nosocomial transmission.
 ...
PMID:Lassa fever presenting as acute abdomen: a case series. 2359 24

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a hereditary autoinflammatory disease, which is diagnosed especially in Mediterranean patients, but is a rare disorder in our geographical area. Due to its rarity and symptoms consisting mainly in recurrent episodes of fever and serositis, it may be mistaken with other, more frequent diseases, especially acute abdomen and systemic rheumatic diseases. The most important life-threatening complication is secondary amyloidosis, which usually affects kidneys, with proteinuria up to nephrotic syndrome and chronic kidney disease progressing to end-stage renal disease requiring dialysis or transplantation. In patients with suspected amyloidosis, kidney biopsy or submucosal rectal biopsy are the methods of choice for diagnosis. Kidney biopsy is also useful in patients with FMF who start to develop proteinuria, since other non-amyloid glomerular involvement may appear in FMF. Colchicine is now the gold standard for treatment, not only to reduce the frequency of attacks but also to improve renal prognosis. For this reason, the sooner the diagnosis is established the better the prognosis will be since the patient will benefit from the appropriate treatment with Colchicine. We present the case of a young female patient diagnosed through kidney biopsy with amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis after 30 years of evolution of FMF and we review the present knowledge regarding the pathogenesis and management of this rare genetic disease.
 ...
PMID:Familial Mediterranean fever-associated renal amyloidosis: case report and review of the literature. 3223 8

Multiple myeloma is a rare malignancy that exhibits a wide range of possible clinical presentations. In recent years, with the advent of stem cell transplantation, the prognosis of patients with multiple myeloma has been increasing. We searched the literature for reports of atypical myeloma presentations to aid clinicians in formulating differential diagnoses and to increase the number of cases diagnosed early. There have been a number of reports of early ocular symptoms, including, but not limited to, proptosis, optic neuropathy, vision loss, retinal hemorrhage, and detachment. Neurological presentations included cranial nerve palsies, vertigo related to cerebellar involvement, and diabetes insipidus related to pituitary involvement. Among gastrointestinal manifestations, there are a number of reports of multiple myeloma presenting as acute and chronic pancreatitis. Mesenteric ischemia due to amyloidosis, acute abdomen, and hepatosplenomegaly were also among reported presentations. When it comes to renal involvement, while acute renal failure and proteinuria are typical, there are reports of patients presenting with both nephritic and nephrotic forms of glomerular disease, as well as end-stage renal disease requiring dialysis. We believe that it is essential for clinicians to keep reporting atypical multiple myeloma presentations and consider it as a possible diagnosis in a patient with serious, atypical symptoms.
 ...
PMID:Uncommon Presentations of Multiple Myeloma. 3263 79