Idiopathic Multicentric Castleman Disease With Thrombocytopenia, Anasarca, Fever, Reticulin Fibrosis/Renal Insufficiency, and Organomegaly (TAFRO) Syndrome in a Liver Transplant Recipient.

Idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease is a rare lymphoproliferative disorder that can be potentially fatal without timely diagnosis and treatment. We describe the first-ever reported occurrence of idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease with thrombocytopenia, anasarca, fever, reticulin fibrosis/renal insufficiency, and organomegaly syndrome in a liver transplant recipient. The diagnosis was challenging as the clinical presentation closely mimicked decompensated cirrhosis, and the profound thrombocytopenia limited tissue diagnosis.

Intraoperative Needle Tip Tracking with an Integrated Fibre-Optic Ultrasound Sensor.

Ultrasound is an essential tool for guidance of many minimally-invasive surgical and interventional procedures, where accurate placement of the interventional device is critical to avoid adverse events. Needle insertion procedures for anaesthesia, fetal medicine and tumour biopsy are commonly ultrasound-guided, and misplacement of the needle may lead to complications such as nerve damage, organ injury or pregnancy loss. Clear visibility of the needle tip is therefore critical, but visibility is often precluded by tissue heterogeneities or specular reflections from the needle shaft.

The heart of the matter: secretory pheochromocytoma presenting as recurrent biventricular heart failure (Takotsubo cardiomyopathy).

Takotsubo's syndrome (TS) is an acute, transient cardiomyopathy occurring secondary to physical or emotional stressors through catecholamine excess. Secretory pheochromocytomas have been previously implicated in cases of TS (PTS), however, often present atypically, are associated with reoccurrence, and have higher rates of complications. We describe the case of a 70-year-old female who presented central chest pain, hypotension and electrocardiogram changes on a background of a 6-month prior episode of resolved Takotsubo's with unknown cause.