Ronen Goldkorn MD, Alexey Naimushin MD, Roy Beigel MD, Ekaterina Naimushin, Michael Narodetski MD and Shlomi Matetzky MD
Background: While patients presenting to emergency departments (ER) with chest pain are increasingly managed in chest pain units (CPU) that utilize accelerated diagnostic protocols for risk stratification, such as single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI), data are lacking regarding the prognostic implications of mildly abnormal scans in this population.
Objectives: To evaluate the prognostic implications of mildly abnormal SPECT MPI results in patients with acute chest pain.
Methods: Of the 3753 chest pain patients admitted to the CPU at the Leviev Heart Center, Sheba Medical Center 1593 were further evaluated by SPECT MPI. Scans were scored by extent and severity of stress-induced perfusion defects, with 1221 patients classified as normal, 82 with myocardial infarction without ischemia, 236 with mild ischemia, and 54 with more than mild ischemia. Mild ischemia patients were further classified to those who did and did not undergo coronary angiography within 7 days.
Results: Mild ischemia patients who underwent coronary angiography were more likely to be male (92% vs. 81%, P = 0.01) and to have left anterior descending ischemia (67% vs. 42%, P = 0.004). After 50 months, these patients returned less often to the ER with chest pain (53% vs. 87%, P < 0.001) and had a lower combined endpoint of acute coronary syndrome and death (8% vs. 16%, P < 0.001).
Conclusions: Compared to patients with chronic stable angina, patients presenting with acute chest pain exhibiting mildly abnormal SPECT MPI findings should perhaps undergo a more aggressive diagnostic and therapeutic approach.
Yael C. Cohen MD, Tamar Berger MD MHA, Lora Eshel MD, Dorit Stern MD, Osnat Bairey MD, Pia Raanani MD and Ofer Shpilberg MD MPH
Background: Pulmonary infiltrates (PIs) detected in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) may present a diagnostic challenge due to their wide differential diagnosis, including infection, pulmonary lymphoma and immunochemotherapy-associated pulmonary toxicity.
Objectives: To characterize therapy-associated PIs by positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging.
Methods: We conducted a historical analysis of fluorodeoxyglucose-PET/CT (18F-FDG-PET/CT) PIs in NHL patients treated with combined immunochemotherapy including rituximab. Incidence of PIs, radiological features, patients’ characteristics, underlying NHL type, rituximab/chemotherapy dosing schedules, and symptoms were recorded. Therapy-associated PIs were defined as new or worsening PIs appearing after treatment onset, without evidence of active pulmonary lymphoma or infection.
Results: Among 80 patients who met the pre-specified criteria, therapy-associated PIs were identified in 17 (21%), 6 of whom had accompanying symptoms. Increased FDG uptake was observed in nine, and PI resolution in six. The incidence of PIs was higher in females and in patients with aggressive lymphoma, at advanced stages, and in those who had received treatment consisting of a combination of rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisolone every 14 days (R-CHOP-14).
Conclusions: This characterization of therapy-associated PIs may support the clinician managing NHL patients. Further prospective studies are needed to establish the role of each therapeutic component and the natural history of this phenomenon.
Ophir Eyal MD, Yuval Tal MD PhD, Arie Ben MD, Ofer N. Gofrit MD PhD and Mordechai Golomb MD
Ohad Ben-Nun MD, Nir Bitterman MD, Tamar Tadmor MD, Jacob Bejar MD, Adel Shalata MD, PhD , Hadid Yarin PhD and Noam Calderon MD
Abdulla Watad MD, Nicola Luigi Bragazzi MD, Noam Grysman MS, Hussein Mahagna MD and Howard Amital MD MHA
Taxanes are often used in the treatment of many types of cancers. Side effects of docetaxel are not as well documented as paclitaxel, but both can cause pulmonary injury. We present a dramatic case of a patient being treated for prostatic adenocarcinoma with docetaxel who presented with interstitial pneumonitis and responded dramatically to the early treatment with corticosteroids. This case is important as it reveals the side effects of docetaxel administration without administration of other chemotherapeutic agents, and it illustrates the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of docetaxel-induced interstitial pneumonitis. Further research into the mechanism of the side effects of docetaxel is warranted.