In March 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic was hitting hard in Spain. In this period we were attending patients in the medical oncology ward, some of them with respiratory insufficiency, usually associated with the tumor or their complications, but there were Continue reading COVID-19, Yes or Not? No definitive answer
The patient
Age: 77 Gender: Male
History of diseases: 1. Diabetes (several years with insulin)
2. Bladder cancer, regional, treated with chemotherapy nine months before this event, considered complete response
Current problem: deterioration with renal insufficiency, deep venous thrombosis in his left leg with lymph nodes in the left groin, probably associated with a recurrence of the urological cancer. Episode of acute thoracic pain without coronary artery involvement. No fever. No shortness of breath. No abdominal pain. A week before, the patient started with some nausea and vomiting, but he had an active life.
Clinical evolution: improvement in kidney function after hydration. Blood pressure going down without fever. Hemoglobin very down (Hb=6,5), needs a transfusion. No sign of external or internal bleeding. Upper endoscopy: no ulcers, no tumor.
Finding without explanation: gastric and small bowel dilatation, without a visible mechanical obstruction or a lump.
We thought about diabetic gastroparesis, small bowel or peritoneal metastases or an abdominal ischemic problem.
Send your opinion. Thank you
Author: Lorenzo Alonso, MD.
A 76-year-old woman had a diagnosis of metastatic colon cancer. After surgery and chemotherapy, there was only a solitary metastasis in her right hepatic lobe, close to the capsule. The oncologist decided to treat this metastasis with radiofrequency. Continue reading “Blindness” to another problem during the COVID-19 pandemic: a clinical case
Different types of lung injury, infectious and not infectious, can share similar or the same radiographic findings in different combinations. Ground-glass opacities, “crazy-paving” pattern, interlobular septal thickening and areas of consolidation (1), Continue reading (Some) Radiographic patterns in Oncology and COVID-19
The life of people around the world has changed dramatically due to a pandemic caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2 and the disease known as COVID-19, initially detected in China. At this moment, Italy, Spain and USA, are the countries with the biggest number of people with a positive test. This tsunami has Continue reading Medical Oncology and COVID-19
