Pleural-based giant solitary fibrous tumour with associated hypoglycaemia: unusual presentation with pulmonary hypertension in a patient with Doege-Potter syndrome.

Refractory hypoglycaemia in a patient with a solitary fibrous tumour (SFT) is very rare and was first reported in 1930 independently by Doege and Potter, leading to it being named 'Doege-Potter syndrome'. Here, we report the unusual case of a 77-year-old woman with a giant solitary fibrous pleural tumour who presented with complicating pulmonary hypertension and associated heart failure with hypoglycaemia, and subsequently underwent curative resection of the pleural mass with clinical improvement.

Spedali Degli Innocenti, the Foundling Hospital in Florence, Italy.

The author reflects on a visit to the Ospedale Degli Innocenti, the former Renaissance foundling hospital in Florence, having escaped from an international clinical conference. He considers the symbolism of the architecture and artwork in relation to its function as a sanctuary for abandoned children.

Critical appraisal: a template to evaluate scientific literature.

Unlabelled: Medical educators have identified the need for clinicians to become lifelong learners; a large part of the drive for this continuum of education is derived from the research that demonstrates that knowledge and/or competence deteriorates with time following graduation and that this is caused by a failure to acquire new knowledge rather than a propensity to forget previously learned material. Clinicians therefore need to be trained to identify the relevant published literature and then to apply Critical Appraisal techniques to the articles acknowledged as being seminal to their professional development.

Clinical Relevance: Historically, Critical Appraisal has been inconsistently taught to both undergraduates and postgraduates.