Diaphragmatic hernia during treatment of lung cancer harboring an EGFR mutation.

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are a first-line treatment for patients with nonsmall-cell lung cancer harboring EGFR mutations. We report a 65-year-old Japanese woman with nonsmall-cell lung cancer taking an EGFR-TKI who visited the emergency department with acute nausea and vomiting. Imaging studies demonstrated an incarcerated diaphragmatic hernia.

Effect of a selective thromboxane A2 synthetase inhibitor on the systemic changes induced by circulating pancreatic phospholipase A2.

Background: In acute pancreatitis, pancreatic phospholipase A(2) (PLA2) in the circulating blood hydrolyzes phospholipids contained in plasma lipoproteins, liberating eicosanoid precursors that are subsequently converted to various eicosanoids. The pathophysiological significance of eicosanoid synthesis via this pathway is unknown. The aim of this study was to clarify the role of thromboxane A(2) (TXA(2)) synthesis by circulating pancreatic PLA(2) in the pathogenesis of the systemic complications of acute pancreatitis.

In Vivo Effect of Pancreatic Phospholipase A2 on the Arachidonic Acid Cascade.

Acute pancreatitis causes various systemic complicationssuch as shock, renal failure, respiratory failure, disseminated intravascular coagulation, and eventually,multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. These systemic complications are responsible for the highmortality rates of acute pancreatitis. Thus, an understandingof their pathogenesis is imperative to reducethe mortality of acute pancreatitis.