A 77-year-old woman with 17 years of gastrointestinal bleeding
Article Abstract:
A 77-year-old woman with weakness, difficulty breathing, an abdominal mass, and gastrointestinal bleeding was found to have an inflamed gallbladder and malformed blood vessels of the small intestine. The woman was obese, had atrial fibrillation, and a 17-year history of gastrointestinal bleeding with an unidentified source, despite numerous investigations. She had received hundreds of blood transfusions over the previous 10 years. Approximately three weeks after admission to the hospital, she suddenly developed an abdominal mass and was operated on. The mass was her enlarged gallbladder and it was removed. Abnormal, dilated veins were found around a section of her small intestine and a section of the intestine was removed. Six months after surgery, the patient was still bleeding into her intestine because not all of the section with abnormal veins was removed during the emergency surgery.
Publication Name: The New England Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0028-4793
Year: 1995
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Chest pain with a surprising course
Article Abstract:
Diabetics with chest pain may have an infection of the gallbladder. A 73-year-old diabetic with a history of coronary artery disease and a coronary bypass was admitted to a hospital with chest pain. The chest pain radiated to his back and an ECG showed no significant changes from an ECG done 11 days prior. He developed kidney failure and anemia from blood cell destruction that progressed very quickly. A bacterium called Clostridium can cause rapid blood cell destruction. Surgery revealed an infected gallbladder that was infected by Clostridium perfringens. The gallbladder was removed and he was treated with dialysis.
Publication Name: The New England Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0028-4793
Year: 1999
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A 76-year-old woman with cardiac and renal failure and gastrointestinal bleeding
Article Abstract:
A 76-year-old woman was admitted to a hospital with anemia and evidence of gastrointestinal bleeding. She had a history of kidney and heart failure. She had been hospitalized previously, and an MRI angiogram of her aorta revealed obstructions in some arteries that supply the kidneys and gastrointestinal tract. Her right toes had turned black and intestinal biopsy specimens revealed injury due to lack of blood. The small arteries in the samples were blocked by cholesterol deposits, which were probably caused by the diagnostic procedures she received.
Publication Name: The New England Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0028-4793
Year: 1998
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