Caregiving in the face of empathy loss in Frontotemporal Dementia: an integrative review.

Objectives: Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD) is a common cause of early onset dementia with symptoms often presenting before 65 years of age and adding tremendous burden on caregivers. FTD caregiving research describes patient behavioral symptoms such as apathy and disinhibition as primary sources of poor caregiver psychological health; however, little attention has been paid to other common patient behaviors, such as loss of empathy. To better understand the relationship between empathy loss and FTD caregiver outcomes, this integrative review aimed to address the question: How does the loss of empathy in a person living with FTD (PLwFTD) impact the caregiver?

Method: Quantitative and qualitative articles were found in PubMed, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and Scopus and were assessed for quality using the Crowe Critical Appraisal Tool (CCAT).

Sentinel ear bleed as a presenting sign for carotid artery blowout due to aspergillus abscess in parapharyngeal space in an immunocompetent infant.

Parapharyngeal abscesses leading to complications, although rare after the advent of antibiotics, can lead to serious complications. One such complication is carotid erosion that can lead to a potentially fatal carotid artery blowout. We report a case of a previously healthy infant who presented with fever, ear bleed and progressively increasing swelling in the right side of his neck that led to airway compromise.