BACKGROUND Many ant species can harm humans;however,only a few cause life-threatening allergic reactions.Normally,reactions caused by ants occur in patients who come into contact with ant venom.Venom contains various ...BACKGROUND Many ant species can harm humans;however,only a few cause life-threatening allergic reactions.Normally,reactions caused by ants occur in patients who come into contact with ant venom.Venom contains various biologically active peptides and protein components,of which acids and alkaloids tend to cause anaphylaxis.Ant venom can cause both immediate and delayed reactions.The main histopathological changes observed in ant hypersensitivity are eosinophil recruitment and Th2 cytokine production.CASE SUMMARY A 70-year-old man was bitten by a large number of ants when he was in a drunken stupor and was hospitalized at a local hospital.Five days later,because of severe symptoms,the patient was transferred to our hospital for treatment.Numerous pustules were observed interspersed throughout the body,with itching and pain reported.He had experienced fever,vomiting,hematochezia,mania,soliloquy,sleep disturbances,and elevated levels of myocardial enzymes since the onset of illness.The patient had a history of hypertension for more than 1 year,and his blood pressure was within the normal range after hypotensive drug treatment.He had no other relevant medical history.Based on the clinical history of an ant bite and its clinical manifestations,the patient was diagnosed with an ant venom allergy.The patient was treated with 60 mg methylprednisolone for 2 d,40 mg methylprednisolone for 3 d,and 20 mg methylprednisolone for 2 d.Oral antihistamines and diazepam were administered for 12 d and 8 d,respectively.Cold compresses were used to treat the swelling during the process.After 12 d of treatment,most pustules became crusts,whereas some had faded away.No symptoms of pain,itching,or psychological disturbances were reported during the follow-up visits within 6 mo.CONCLUSION This case report emphasizes the dangers of ant stings.展开更多
BACKGROUND We report on a large family of Chinese Han individuals with hidrotic ectodermal dysplasia(HED)with a variation in GJB6(c.31G>A).The patients in the family had a triad of clinical manifestations of varyin...BACKGROUND We report on a large family of Chinese Han individuals with hidrotic ectodermal dysplasia(HED)with a variation in GJB6(c.31G>A).The patients in the family had a triad of clinical manifestations of varying degrees.Although the same variation locus have been reported,the clinical manifestations of this family were difficult to distinguish from those of congenital thick nail disorder,palmoplantar keratosis,and congenital hypotrichosis.CASE SUMMARY This investigation involved a large Chinese family of 46 members across five generations and included 12 patients with HED.The proband(IV4)was a male patient with normal sweat gland function and dental development,no skeletal dysplasia,no cognitive disability,and no hearing impairments.His parents were not consanguineously married.Physical examination of the proband revealed thinning hair and thickened grayish-yellow nails and toenails with some longit-udinal ridges,in addition to mild bilateral palmoplantar hyperkeratosis.GJB6,GJB2,and GJA1 have been reported to be the causative genes of HED;therefore,we subjected the patient’s samples to Sanger sequencing of these three genes.In this family,the variation locus was at GJB6(c.31G>A,p.Gly11Arg).Overex-pression vectors of wild-type GJB6 and its variants were established and transfected into HaCaT cell models,and the related mRNA and protein expression changes were determined using real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot,respectively.CONCLUSION We report another HED phenotype associated with GJB6 variations,which can help clinicians to diagnose HED despite its varying presentations.展开更多
Introduction Purpura fulminans(PF)was first described in 18861 and is characterized as a rare syndrome with a rapidly progressive course of hemorrhagic infarction of the skin and soft tissue necrosis.It mainly occurs ...Introduction Purpura fulminans(PF)was first described in 18861 and is characterized as a rare syndrome with a rapidly progressive course of hemorrhagic infarction of the skin and soft tissue necrosis.It mainly occurs in children and rarely in adults.1 PF is a life-threatening disease that can be a clinical presentation of toxic shock syndrome(TSS).2 The most common infectious etiology is cocci,and routine use of antibiotics for this disease is well recognized.However,another etiology,influenza virus,is often neglected.We herein report a case involving an older patient with TSS presenting with PF,in which Streptococcus pyogenes(S.pyogenes)accompanied by influenza virus might have played an important role,in order to arise the attention of clinician to the infection of the influenza virus in the pathogenesis of TSS.展开更多
文摘BACKGROUND Many ant species can harm humans;however,only a few cause life-threatening allergic reactions.Normally,reactions caused by ants occur in patients who come into contact with ant venom.Venom contains various biologically active peptides and protein components,of which acids and alkaloids tend to cause anaphylaxis.Ant venom can cause both immediate and delayed reactions.The main histopathological changes observed in ant hypersensitivity are eosinophil recruitment and Th2 cytokine production.CASE SUMMARY A 70-year-old man was bitten by a large number of ants when he was in a drunken stupor and was hospitalized at a local hospital.Five days later,because of severe symptoms,the patient was transferred to our hospital for treatment.Numerous pustules were observed interspersed throughout the body,with itching and pain reported.He had experienced fever,vomiting,hematochezia,mania,soliloquy,sleep disturbances,and elevated levels of myocardial enzymes since the onset of illness.The patient had a history of hypertension for more than 1 year,and his blood pressure was within the normal range after hypotensive drug treatment.He had no other relevant medical history.Based on the clinical history of an ant bite and its clinical manifestations,the patient was diagnosed with an ant venom allergy.The patient was treated with 60 mg methylprednisolone for 2 d,40 mg methylprednisolone for 3 d,and 20 mg methylprednisolone for 2 d.Oral antihistamines and diazepam were administered for 12 d and 8 d,respectively.Cold compresses were used to treat the swelling during the process.After 12 d of treatment,most pustules became crusts,whereas some had faded away.No symptoms of pain,itching,or psychological disturbances were reported during the follow-up visits within 6 mo.CONCLUSION This case report emphasizes the dangers of ant stings.
文摘BACKGROUND We report on a large family of Chinese Han individuals with hidrotic ectodermal dysplasia(HED)with a variation in GJB6(c.31G>A).The patients in the family had a triad of clinical manifestations of varying degrees.Although the same variation locus have been reported,the clinical manifestations of this family were difficult to distinguish from those of congenital thick nail disorder,palmoplantar keratosis,and congenital hypotrichosis.CASE SUMMARY This investigation involved a large Chinese family of 46 members across five generations and included 12 patients with HED.The proband(IV4)was a male patient with normal sweat gland function and dental development,no skeletal dysplasia,no cognitive disability,and no hearing impairments.His parents were not consanguineously married.Physical examination of the proband revealed thinning hair and thickened grayish-yellow nails and toenails with some longit-udinal ridges,in addition to mild bilateral palmoplantar hyperkeratosis.GJB6,GJB2,and GJA1 have been reported to be the causative genes of HED;therefore,we subjected the patient’s samples to Sanger sequencing of these three genes.In this family,the variation locus was at GJB6(c.31G>A,p.Gly11Arg).Overex-pression vectors of wild-type GJB6 and its variants were established and transfected into HaCaT cell models,and the related mRNA and protein expression changes were determined using real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot,respectively.CONCLUSION We report another HED phenotype associated with GJB6 variations,which can help clinicians to diagnose HED despite its varying presentations.
文摘Introduction Purpura fulminans(PF)was first described in 18861 and is characterized as a rare syndrome with a rapidly progressive course of hemorrhagic infarction of the skin and soft tissue necrosis.It mainly occurs in children and rarely in adults.1 PF is a life-threatening disease that can be a clinical presentation of toxic shock syndrome(TSS).2 The most common infectious etiology is cocci,and routine use of antibiotics for this disease is well recognized.However,another etiology,influenza virus,is often neglected.We herein report a case involving an older patient with TSS presenting with PF,in which Streptococcus pyogenes(S.pyogenes)accompanied by influenza virus might have played an important role,in order to arise the attention of clinician to the infection of the influenza virus in the pathogenesis of TSS.
