Faculty Bibliography

T-cell prolymphocytic leukaemia (T-PLL) is an extremely uncommon haematological malignancy that has an aggressive course and a grave prognosis. We describe a patient who presented with lymphocytosis, scalp erythema, ascites and splenomegaly and was diagnosed with T-PLL. He was treated with alemtuzumab with a good response and was referred for allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

With an increasing pandemic of HIV/AIDS, the incidence of HIV-associated lymphoma is expected to rise. Here, the authors report a case of a 41-year-old man who presented with right upper quadrant pain and mass, and was subsequently diagnosed with HIV-associated diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) with cardiac involvement. This case illustrates some of the uncommon and interesting aspects of DLBCL: primary extramedullary extranodal stage IV disease as the presenting feature; cardiac involvement at presentation; DLBCL as the only clue to the diagnosis of HIV; and management of HIV-associated DLBCL. This case is also a reminder of the importance of the routine HIV screening for all patients between the ages of 13-64 years, as advocated by centres of disease control and prevention.

Metaplastic carcinoma of the breast, a rare neoplasm, usually presents at an advanced stage, metastasises to distant sites more frequently, has higher Ki-67 expression and is more often triple negative compared with other invasive breast cancers. Here, the authors discuss a case of an 84-year-old woman with triple negative mixed metaplastic breast carcinoma treated with radical modified mastectomy, axillary lymph node dissection and radiation therapy. Because of the rarity of the disease, the pathogenesis and the management remain controversial, thus contributing to overall poor prognosis.

Kikuchi's disease is a benign condition that occurs in women. A young woman presented to the hospital with fevers and cervical lymphadenopathy. Infectious work-up was negative except for streptococcus pharyngitis. Imaging studies revealed the presence of diffuse cervical and axillary lymphadenopathy. The fevers persisted and she underwent excisional cervical lymph node biopsy that revealed histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis corresponding to a benign diagnosis of Kikuchi's disease. Three months later, the patient was afebrile and there was complete resolution of the cervical lymphadenopathy.

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND:The consumption of energy drinks has increased significantly. We report the case of a patient who presented to our hospital with jaundice, abdominal pain, and markedly increased liver transaminases likely due to the increased consumption of an energy drink. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report in the literature linking the development of acute hepatitis to the consumption of an energy drink. CASE PRESENTATION/METHODS:A 22-year-old Caucasian woman presented to our hospital with epigastric pain, nausea, vomiting, and low-grade fever. She had been drinking 10 cans of an energy drink daily for two weeks prior to presentation. Her physical examination revealed mild epigastric tenderness. Her initial blood tests revealed elevated alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and total bilirubin. A computed tomographic scan of the abdomen and pelvis was normal, and the patient was discharged to home. She returned to the Emergency Department of our hospital with worsening pain and new-onset jaundice. This time her physical examination revealed epigastric tenderness and icteric sclera. Her aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and international normalized ratio were markedly elevated. Further radiological studies were non-specific, and she was admitted to our hospital with a diagnosis of acute hepatitis. Her viral serology and toxicology screens were negative. The patient was treated supportively and was discharged after resolution of her symptoms and a marked decrease in her liver enzymes. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:The development of acute hepatitis in this patient was most likely due to the excessive ingestion of an energy drink, and we speculate that niacin was the culprit ingredient.

A 34-year-old man presented to the hospital with right-sided headache. He was diagnosed with GBM. He underwent resection of the tumor with placement of carmustine impregnated wafers. Then he underwent adjuvant chemotherapy with temozolamide. Before the completion of chemotherapy he had a recurrence. He underwent re-resection with placement of carmustine impregnated wafers. Subsequently he had eighteen cycles of salvage biochemotherapy with bevacizumab and irinotecan. To date, routine MRI scans of the brain have not shown evidence of recurrence. He continues to be in remission three years after treatment with bevacizumab and irinotecan.