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The catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome is characterised by rapid onset thromboses, often resistant to conventional anticoagulant treatment, and resulting in life threatening multiple organ dysfunction. The diagnosis of catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome may be difficult, predominantly due to its frequently atypical presentation. We report a case of a 35-year-old female who presented with a pancreatic tumour and extensive thromboses. Following a storm of ischemic events due to thrombotic occlusions in spite of therapeutic heparin dose, the suspicion of catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome emerged. The patient was successfully treated with anticoagulants, immunuglobulins, plasmapheresis and rituximab. The present report shows that the use of the diluted Russell's viper venom time can be helpful in providing additional information on the lupus anticoagulans antibody status, allowing careful monitoring of lupus anticoagulans conversion and hence response to therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Serrated polyposis syndrome (SPS) is accompanied by a substantially increased colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. To prevent or treat CRC in patients with a very high polyp burden, (sub)total colectomy with ileorectal or ileosigmoidal anastomosis is regularly performed. The CRC risk after (sub)total colectomy might be decreased, but evidence is lacking. We aimed to assess the yield of endoscopic surveillance in patients with SPS who underwent (sub)total colectomy., Methods: For this post hoc analysis, we used prospectively collected data from a large international prospective cohort study. We included patients diagnosed with SPS (World Health Organization type I and/or III) who underwent (sub)total colectomy. Primary endpoint was the cumulative 5-year incidence of CRC and advanced neoplasia (AN)., Results: Forty-eight patients (mean age 61 [±7.8]; 52% men) were included and followed up for a median of 4.7 years (interquartile range 4.7-5.1). None of the patients developed CRC during follow-up. Five patients developed AN, corresponding to a cumulative 5-year AN incidence of 13% (95% confidence interval 1.2-23). In 4 patients, AN was diagnosed at the first surveillance endoscopy after study inclusion, and in 1 patient, AN was detected during subsequent rounds of surveillance. The risk of AN was similar for patients with ileorectal and ileosigmoidal anastomosis (logrank P = 0.83)., Discussion: (Sub)total colectomy mitigates much of the excess risk of CRC in patients with SPS. Advanced neoplasms are mainly detected at the first endoscopy after (sub)total colectomy. Based on these results, after the first surveillance, intervals might be extended beyond the currently recommended 1-2 years.

Early detection of damage to cardiac myocytes after cardiotoxic chemotherapy in paediatric patients may allow timely preventive measures to be taken. We investigated the diagnostic value of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) after the administration of cardiotoxic chemotherapy. In 38 children, cTnT levels were measured at three time points during the first 24 h after 58 cardiotoxic chemotherapy cycles (163 samples). An abnormal cTnT level, defined as a cTnT>0.010 ng/ml, was measured in only six samples from 3 patients. After completion of chemotherapy, 7 out of the 38 patients had left ventricular dysfunction (LV dysfunction). Only 1 of these 7 patients had an elevated cTnT level. 2 other patients with elevated cTnT levels did not develop LV dysfunction until 2 and 7 months after the cTnT measurement. Our data show that the measurement of cTnT within 24 h after administration of chemotherapy does not have a high sensitivity for the identification of patients with subsequent subclinical cardiotoxicity.