Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0231807 (exertional dyspnea)
 3,402 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

POEMS (polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal gammopathy, and skin changes) syndrome is a rare variant of plasma cell dyscrasia with multiple systemic manifestations. We followed the progress of 20 patients with POEMS syndrome in our institution over a 10-yr period. Pulmonary hypertension (PH) was observed in five patients. All patients suffered dyspnea on exertion, which always appeared during an exacerbation of POEMS syndrome. The typical echocardiographic signs of PH were observed in all of these patients, and the median pulmonary-artery systolic pressure was 57 mm Hg (range, 50 to 65 mm Hg). Mean pulmonary-artery pressure during right side heart catheterization in two patients was 32 mm Hg. No other explanation for the PH could be found. Overproduction of cytokines was found in all cases, with high serum concentrations of interleukin-1beta, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and vascular endothelial growth factor. We suggest that PH should be added to the list of symptoms of POEMS syndrome. Cytokines may mediate POEMS syndrome-associated PH, as proposed for the other systemic manifestations of this disorder.
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PMID:Pulmonary hypertension in POEMS syndrome: a new feature mediated by cytokines. 951 10

A 64-year-old woman was admitted with systemic edema and exertional dyspnea. High-output heart failure was diagnosed by right heart catheterization and she was treated with diuretics. After 3 weeks, her symptoms disappeared but a high cardiac output state persisted. A diagnosis of Crow-Fukase syndrome was made based on the presence of polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, M-protein, and skin changes. Her serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) level was markedly elevated after recovery from heart failure. We suspect that an elevated VEGF level and a high cardiac output state may play a role in the pathogenesis of heart failure in Crow-Fukase syndrome.
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PMID:Crow-Fukase syndrome associated with high-output heart failure. 1221 33

We report a 66-year-old man who developed vitamin B1 deficiency polyneuropathy long after a gastrectomy. After a preceding bronchial infection, the patient noticed numbness and weakness in his extremities, followed by generalized edema and exertional dyspnea. He had undergone subtotal gastrectomy due to duodenal ulcer at age 19. His daily oral intake of food was normal without any alcoholic abuse. He was admitted to our hospital with rapidly progressive gait disturbance due to muscle weakness, and sensory disturbance. Neurological examination showed peripheral polyneuropathy with distal dominant muscular weakness and sensory disturbance. Chest X-ray film showed marked cardiomegaly and pleural effusion. Nerve conduction studies showed decreases in the action potentials of both the motor and sensory nerves, with the sensory nerves being more severely affected than the motor nerves. Sural nerve biopsy demonstrated severe axonal degeneration without any inflammatory change. The blood concentration of thiamine (vitamin B1) was slightly decreased below the normal range (19 ng/ml; normal, 20-50), and the serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was high (890 pg/ml; normal < 200 pg/ml). Intravenous administration of vitamin B1 (50 mg per day) dramatically improved his symptoms in a few days and the level of VEGF returned to nearly normal. In this gastrectomized patient many years ago, vitamin B1 deficiency neuropathy is warranted in view of a prompt response to thiamine administration. This case suggests that VEGF is involved in the pathogenesis of vitamin B1 deficiency polyneuropathy.
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PMID:[Thiamine deficiency polyneuropathy after gastrectomy associated with high level of serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). A case report]. 1519 56

Bevacizumab is a vascular endothelial growth factor-directed humanized monoclonal antibody used to treat many types of cancer and some eye diseases. Due to inhibition of angiogenesis, many adverse reactions such as bowel necrosis, nasal septal perforation, and renal thrombotic microangiopathy have been described. However, its association with interstitial pneumonitis is scarcely reported in the literature. We report a case of a 79-year-old woman with metastatic colon cancer who presented with cough and dyspnea on exertion the day after initiation of bevacizumab. She was found to have bilateral airspace opacities on imaging. Infectious and cardiogenic etiologies of dyspnea were ruled out. Due to the temporal relationship with the initiation of chemotherapy, she was suspected to have developed bevacizumab-induced interstitial pneumonitis. She improved rapidly with high-dose steroids. Follow-up imaging showed resolution of infiltrates. This is the first reported case in the literature that directly links bevacizumab to interstitial pneumonitis.
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PMID:Bevacizumab-Induced Pneumonitis in a Patient With Metastatic Colon Cancer: A Case Report. 3259 83