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Patient: Male, 21-year-old Final Diagnosis: Atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia Symptoms: Palpitation Medication: — Clinical Procedure: Radiofrequency catheter ablation Specialty: Cardiology Objective: Rare disease Background: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is the criterion standard treatment for patients with atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT). Knowledge about RFA in patients with dextrocardia and situs inversus is limited due to their rare incidence and complexity. The incidence of dextrocardia is reported to be 1 in 12 000 births, with situs inversus occurring in one-third of the cases. The incidence of congenital heart disease is about 5% in these patients. However, data on rhythm and conduction disorders in this group of patients are currently limited, making management more difficult owing to their individual anatomy. Case Report: We report the case of an obese 21-year-old man with complex congenital heart disease (CCHD) (situs inversus dextrocardia, pulmonary atresia, single ventricle, common atrium with single atrioventricular valve), asplenia, and multiple cardiac-corrective surgeries (Fontan repair, bidirectional Glenn anastomosis, and Blalock-Taussig shunt) who underwent successful RFA of recurrent supraventricular tachycardia. Conclusions: Supraventricular arrhythmias are common in the setting of CCHD. Although catheter ablation procedures are technically challenging to perform in patients with CCHD, they remain the best therapeutic option for these arrhythmias. To our knowledge, this case is the first to be described in the literature of successful ablation of AVNRT in a patient with situs inversus dextrocardia, pulmonary atresia, a single ventricle, a common atrium with a single atrioventricular valve, and multiple cardiac-corrective surgeries.

Patient: Female, 77-year-old Final Diagnosis: Leukostasis Symptoms: Cough • palpitations • shortness of breath Medication: — Clinical Procedure: Endotracheal intubation • leukapheresis Specialty: Hematology Objective: Unusual clinical course Background: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a mature B cell lymphocytic neoplasm that has an indolent clinical course. Therefore, not all patients with CLL require treatment at the time of diagnosis. Hyperleukocytosis (white blood cell count, >100×109/L) is present in a large proportion of patients with CLL. However, symptomatic hyperleukocytosis (leukostasis) is an extremely uncommon presentation of CLL. Leukostasis frequently presents with the clinical manifestation of respiratory, neurological, or renal system problems. This is secondary to the decreased tissue perfusion due to the intravascular accumulation of large aggregates of leukemic cells. Leukostasis is a medical emergency requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission and its management includes aggressive hydration, prevention and treatment of tumor lysis syndrome, cytoreduction, and leukapheresis. Case Report: We report a case of a 77-year-old woman with a long history of untreated CLL who presented with respiratory symptoms with hyperleukocytosis. Her condition rapidly deteriorated, requiring intubation. She required induction chemotherapy with chlorambucil as well as 2 sessions of leukapheresis, to which she responded well. In most reported leukostasis cases in the literature, the white blood cell (WBC) count was >1000×109/L. We present a case of a patient with leukostasis with WBC count 524×109/L who responded to chlorambucil and leukapheresis, with good recovery. Conclusions: Leukostasis, although extremely rare, is a life-threatening complication in patients with CLL. It should be strongly considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with CLL who present with hyperleukocytosis and acute pulmonary symptoms. Clinicians should be aware of this medical emergency, as delayed treatment can increase morbidity and mortality.

Patient: Female, 63-year-old Final Diagnosis: Asthma Symptoms: Wheeze Medication: — Clinical Procedure: — Specialty: Pulmonology Objective: Unusual clinical course Background: Despite the availability of inhaled corticosteroid and the development of various biological treatment agents, severe asthma patients are still at high risk of recurrent and life-threatening exacerbations, which results in morbidity and mortality. In addition to treatment response variability, incorrect inhaler technique, poor adherence, and major psychological problems, environmental factors such as climate change also are contributory factors for worsen symptoms of asthma and acute exacerbation. We present here, a case of a 63-year-old female patient who had oral corticosteroid-dependent severe asthma and recurrent attacks in spring and autumn. Case report: A 63-year-old Chinese female was diagnosed with asthma when she was 3 years old. During 2007–2011, she was admitted to the hospital once a year because of asthma exacerbation; she was on a regular treatment regimen of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) plus long-acting beta-agonist (LABA). In October 2018, she was admitted to our Department for aggravating symptoms due to “sudden climate change”. She was discharged on tapering doses of oral methylprednisolone from 32 mg once daily, but the reduced methylprednisolone resulted in aggravation of wheezing. However, when the weather warmed up, her symptoms were relieved, and she stopped taking methylprednisolone (after the tapering). Conclusions: This study suggests an association between the common causes of weather changes and acute severe asthma exacerbation. Patients and clinicians should be aware that keeping warm and avoiding exposure to cold air and airborne allergens might reduce the frequency of asthma exacerbations.