Publications by authors named "Karasik O"

This case report includes an extremely rare and intriguing presentation of takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TCM), triggered by forceful vomiting in the setting of gastroparesis, a condition characterized by delayed gastric emptying. TCM is a reversible form of cardiomyopathy that typically occurs following a severe emotional or physical stressor. In this exceptional case, we present a patient with an acute severe episode of gastroparesis, followed by TCM, devoid of any recognizable emotional or physical stressors.

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SARS-COVID-19 is known to manifest with a wide variety of symptoms, most of which are respiratory. Myalgias are a common symptom of COVID-19, but cases of severe virus-induced inflammatory muscle injury leading to rhabdomyolysis and polymyositis have also been reported. Here, we present and discuss a case of a 56-year-old woman who presented with an initial presentation of COVID-19 infection with inflammatory polymyositis leading to rhabdomyolysis.

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A 59-year-old man with a history of severe aortic stenosis with transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) presented with worsening heart failure. Echocardiography showed a fistula between the aorta and the right ventricle with mild to moderate paravalvular regurgitation. He underwent a valve-in-valve TAVR with symptomatic improvement and decreased flow through the fistula.

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Insulinomas are a rare cause of recurrent hypoglycemia in non-diabetic patients. Diagnosis requires hypoglycemia (plasma glucose <50 mg/dL), neuroglycopenic symptoms, and prompt relief of symptoms following the administration of glucose, known as Whipple's triad. The gold standard diagnostic tests are measuring insulin, C-peptide, and glucose during a 72-hour fast.

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Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I), such as lisinopril, are used as first-line therapy in the treatment of hypertension, heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, and proteinuric chronic kidney disease due to their beneficial effects on reducing morbidity and mortality. Commonly cited adverse effects of lisinopril include hyperkalemia, acute kidney injury, and angioedema, and while uncommon, there have been reports of lisinopril-induced necrotizing pancreatitis in the literature. The true incidence of drug-induced pancreatitis is unknown since establishing a causal relationship between medication's adverse effects and disease occurrence is difficult; however, there are validated tools such as the Adverse Drug Reaction Probability Scale that can aid in determining causality.

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Background: Hospital-acquired infections are associated with increased morbidity, mortality, costs and length of stay. Prior studies have linked increased hand hygiene compliance with reduced hospital-acquired infection rate. With the increased vigilance for personal and institutional hygiene practices during the COVID-19 pandemic, we hypothesized increased hand hygiene compliance and, as a result, decrease in hospital-acquired infections in our hospital.

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Marijuana is the most commonly used psychoactive drug in the USA. A 35-year-old man with a medical history of marijuana abuse is admitted to the hospital due to crushing substernal chest pain. ECG shows evolving ST-segment elevation with a rise in cardiac enzymes, consistent with ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

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Spontaneous pneumomediastinum (SPM) is a rare entity with a reported incidence of approximately 1:7,000 to 1:100,000 of hospital admissions. It has been described as a complication of various conditions related to increased intrathoracic pressure, like recurrent vomiting, post-partum state, vigorous coughing or sneezing, and others. We present a 25-year-old man who came in with intractable vomiting, secondary to diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), and was found to have pneumomediastinum on chest imaging.

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We present a case of severe acquired acrodermatitis enteropathica in a vegan adult female with multiple underlying comorbidities. Acquired acrodermatitis enteropathica or zinc-deficiency dermatitis is the most common diagnosis than many practitioners realize with up to 10% of the patients in developed nations with the risk of zinc deficiency. The condition can be difficult to diagnose due to many similarly-presenting conditions.

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Uric acid has been implicated in the pathophysiology of renal disease; however renal clearance makes a causal relationship difficult to prove. We examine the current literature to support a potential role of uric acid in the development of kidney disease and to determine the potential to use uric acid as a marker for future renal decline. After review, we conclude that uric acid is definitively linked to the development of chronic kidney disease and can be a poor prognostic factor for the development of acute renal failure, as well.

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Data are reported on the course of anaphylactic shock in 27 patients. It was established that respiratory insufficiency is as a rule, a sequel of distress syndrome. The symptoms of hepatic failure are mainly manifested in patients with a previously involved liver.

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Subcutaneous application of magnetophores with a field intensity of 210 ersted prevented the development of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) in guinea-pigs. The magnetophores appeared efficacious both at the beginning of the induction period and in the second half of the latent period, i.e.

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The authors studied the influence of the cells of normal lymphoid organs on the level of immunological response in the recipients of splenic cells from the suppressed animals. The organ cells were mixed with the suppressed ones and were administered to the recipients together with the reimmunizing dose of the antigen. Cells of the spleen, of the lymph nodes, the thymus or of the bone marrow suppressed the capacity of the memory cells to the realization of the immunological response to sheep red blood cells and egg albumin.

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In combined administration of two nonaffiliated erythrocytic antigens there can be seen both depression and stimulation of the immunological response to the participating antigens. The end result of the interaction depended on the "power", the dose and the order of administration of the antigens. Distribution of the antigen in the animals whose immune response was depressed as a result of preliminary administration of the nonaffiliated antigen remained unchanged.

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