[A case report of severe vitamin D intoxication].

A 58-year-old woman presented with a symptomatic, hypertensive crisis, acute kidney failure AKIN2 and a severe hypercalcemia. The parathyroid hormone levels were in the lower normal range with highly elevated Vitamin D levels. For more than half a year she was taking 100'000 IU Vitamin D daily.

Pembrolizumab in a Patient With a Metastatic CASTLE Tumor of the Parotid.

Carcinoma showing thymus-like elements (CASTLE) is a rare tumor, most commonly found in the thyroid gland. Here we report a case of CASTLE tumor localized to the parotid gland, recognized in retrospect after a late manifestation of symptomatic pleural carcinomatosis. The original tumor in the parotid gland was treated by surgery followed by radiotherapy.

Applied Swarm-based medicine: collecting decision trees for patterns of algorithms analysis.

Background: The objective consensus methodology has recently been applied in consensus finding in several studies on medical decision-making among clinical experts or guidelines. The main advantages of this method are an automated analysis and comparison of treatment algorithms of the participating centers which can be performed anonymously.

Methods: Based on the experience from completed consensus analyses, the main steps for the successful implementation of the objective consensus methodology were identified and discussed among the main investigators.

Carbon monoxide poisoning following use of a water pipe/hookah.

Background: Water pipe (hookah) smoking has become a common activity in Germany, particularly among adolescents and young adults; in 2011, its lifetime prevalence was as high as 68.8%. Similar trends can be seen in other European countries.

Toll-like receptor 4, nitric oxide, and myocardial depression in endotoxemia.

The molecular mechanisms that mediate gram-negative sepsis-associated myocardial dysfunction remain elusive. Myocardial expression of inflammatory mediators is Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) dependent. However, it remains to be elucidated whether TLR4, expressed on cardiac myocytes, mediates impairment of cardiac contractility after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) application.