The main mechanism of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TCM) is catecholamine-induced acute myocardial stunning. Pheochromocytoma, a catecholamine-secreting tumor, can cause several cardiovascular complications, including hypertensive crisis, myocardial infarction, toxic myocarditis, and TCM. A 29-year-old woman presented to our hospital with general weakness, vomiting, dyspnea, and chest pain. The patient was nullipara, 28 weeks’ gestation, and had a cachexic morphology. Her cardiac enzyme levels were elevated and bedside echocardiography showed apical akinesia, suggesting TCM. The next day, she could not feel the fetal movement, and an emergency cesarean section was performed. After delivery, the patient experienced cardiac arrest and was transferred to the intensive care unit for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Spontaneous circulation returned after 28 minutes of CPR, but cardiogenic shock continued, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was initiated. On the third day of ECMO maintenance, left ventricular ejection fraction improved and blood pressure stabilized. On the eighth day after ECMO insertion, it was removed. However, complications of the left leg vessels occurred, and several surgeries and interventions were performed. A left adrenal gland mass was found on computed tomography and was removed while repairing the leg vessels. Pheochromocytoma was diagnosed and left adrenalectomy was performed.

The main mechanism of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TCM) is catecholamine-induced acute myocardial stunning. Pheochromocytoma, a catecholamine-secreting tumor, can cause several cardiovascular complications, including hypertensive crisis, myocardial infarction, toxic myocarditis, and TCM. A 29-year-old woman presented to our hospital with general weakness, vomiting, dyspnea, and chest pain. The patient was nullipara, 28 weeks’ gestation, and had a cachexic morphology. Her cardiac enzyme levels were elevated and bedside echocardiography showed apical akinesia, suggesting TCM. The next day, she could not feel the fetal movement, and an emergency cesarean section was performed. After delivery, the patient experienced cardiac arrest and was transferred to the intensive care unit for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Spontaneous circulation returned after 28 minutes of CPR, but cardiogenic shock continued, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was initiated. On the third day of ECMO maintenance, left ventricular ejection fraction improved and blood pressure stabilized. On the eighth day after ECMO insertion, it was removed. However, complications of the left leg vessels occurred, and several surgeries and interventions were performed. A left adrenal gland mass was found on computed tomography and was removed while repairing the leg vessels. Pheochromocytoma was diagnosed and left adrenalectomy was performed.

The main mechanism of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TCM) is catecholamine-induced acute myocardial stunning. Pheochromocytoma, a catecholamine-secreting tumor, can cause several cardiovascular complications, including hypertensive crisis, myocardial infarction, toxic myocarditis, and TCM. A 29-year-old woman presented to our hospital with general weakness, vomiting, dyspnea, and chest pain. The patient was nullipara, 28 weeks’ gestation, and had a cachexic morphology. Her cardiac enzyme levels were elevated and bedside echocardiography showed apical akinesia, suggesting TCM. The next day, she could not feel the fetal movement, and an emergency cesarean section was performed. After delivery, the patient experienced cardiac arrest and was transferred to the intensive care unit for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Spontaneous circulation returned after 28 minutes of CPR, but cardiogenic shock continued, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was initiated. On the third day of ECMO maintenance, left ventricular ejection fraction improved and blood pressure stabilized. On the eighth day after ECMO insertion, it was removed. However, complications of the left leg vessels occurred, and several surgeries and interventions were performed. A left adrenal gland mass was found on computed tomography and was removed while repairing the leg vessels. Pheochromocytoma was diagnosed and left adrenalectomy was performed.

The main mechanism of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TCM) is catecholamine-induced acute myocardial stunning. Pheochromocytoma, a catecholamine-secreting tumor, can cause several cardiovascular complications, including hypertensive crisis, myocardial infarction, toxic myocarditis, and TCM. A 29-year-old woman presented to our hospital with general weakness, vomiting, dyspnea, and chest pain. The patient was nullipara, 28 weeks’ gestation, and had a cachexic morphology. Her cardiac enzyme levels were elevated and bedside echocardiography showed apical akinesia, suggesting TCM. The next day, she could not feel the fetal movement, and an emergency cesarean section was performed. After delivery, the patient experienced cardiac arrest and was transferred to the intensive care unit for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Spontaneous circulation returned after 28 minutes of CPR, but cardiogenic shock continued, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was initiated. On the third day of ECMO maintenance, left ventricular ejection fraction improved and blood pressure stabilized. On the eighth day after ECMO insertion, it was removed. However, complications of the left leg vessels occurred, and several surgeries and interventions were performed. A left adrenal gland mass was found on computed tomography and was removed while repairing the leg vessels. Pheochromocytoma was diagnosed and left adrenalectomy was performed.

Background: Patients with hematologic malignancies exhibit persistent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 positivity over long periods after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diagnosis. However, the frequency of, risk factors for, and prognosis of prolonged COVID-19 in immunocompromised patients remain unclear. Therefore, we investigated the long-term outcomes of COVID-19 in lymphoma patients and identified the associated factors and impact of prolonged COVID-19 on mortality. Methods: A multicenter retrospective cohort study of 583 lymphoma patients was conducted in 3 tertiary hospitals in South Korea. Patients receiving lymphoma treatment who were quarantined after obtaining a diagnosis of COVID-19 by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or antigen test from August 2021 to September 2022 were examined. Results: Overall, 115 patients (19.7%) were diagnosed with COVID-19. Among 77 patients with clinical data, 24 had prolonged COVID-19. Patients in the prolonged COVID-19 group showed higher rates of receiving rituximab maintenance therapy following bendamustine and rituximab (BR) treatment for follicular lymphoma. This group did not show significant differences in clinical presentation within 30 days of COVID-19 diagnosis; however, it showed higher rates of re-admission due to COVID-19 pneumonia compared with the non-prolonged COVID-19 group. BR treatment followed by rituximab maintenance therapy is one of the risk factors for persistent PCR positivity, delayed or persistent pneumonia, and COVID-19 related admission after quarantine period. Prolonged COVID-19 was an independent risk factor for 1-year mortality. Conclusion Prolonged COVID-19 was more frequent in lymphoma patients who received BR treatment followed by rituximab maintenance therapy and associated with unfavorable longterm outcomes and higher 1-year mortality.

With the growing number of patients undergoing left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation and improved survival in this population, more patients with LVADs are presenting for various types of non-cardiac surgery. Therefore, anesthesiologists need to understand the physiology and adequately prepare for the perioperative management of this unique patient population. This review addresses perioperative considerations and intraoperative management for the safe and successful management of patients with an LVAD undergoing non-cardiac surgery. Understanding the basic physiology of preload dependency and afterload sensitivity in these patients is essential. The main considerations include a collaborative preoperative multidisciplinary approach, perioperative care aimed at optimizing the intravascular volume and right ventricular function, and maintaining the afterload within recommended ranges for optimal LVAD function.

This study aimed to compare the pharmacokinetic (PK) and safety profiles of 2 fenofibric acid formulations under fasting and fed conditions. The reference was a 135 mg capsule, while the test was a 110 mg enteric-coated tablet. This randomized, open-label, two-sequence, two-period crossover phase 1 clinical trial was conducted in healthy Korean men. Sixty participants were enrolled in each of the fasting and feeding groups. Blood samples were collected 72 hours after drug administration. PK parameters were calculated using a noncompartmental method with Phoenix WinNonlin ® . A total of 53 and 51 participants from the fasting and feeding groups, respectively, completed the study. The geometric mean ratio and 90% confidence intervals of the maximum concentration (C max ) and area under the concentration-time curve to the last measurable plasma concentration were 0.9195 (0.8795–0.9614) and 0.8630 (0.8472–0.8791) in the fasting study and 1.0926 (1.0102–1.1818) and 0.9998 (0.9675–1.0332) in the fed study, respectively. The time to reach C max of the enteric-coated tablet compared to that of the capsule was extended by 1 and 3 hours under fasting and fed conditions, respectively. In conclusion, enteric-coated tablets have a higher bioavailability than capsules. In addition, the enteric-coated tablet was smaller than the capsule, making it easier for patients to swallow.

With the global spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, several vaccines were developed; messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines have recently been widely used worldwide. However, the incidence of myocarditis following mRNA vaccination is increasing;although the cause of myocarditis has not yet been clearly identified, it is presumed to be caused by a problem in the innate immune system. Immune-mediated thrombocytopenia (ITP) after vaccination is rare but has been reported and is also assumed to occur by the same mechanism. We report the first case of simultaneous myocarditis and ITP after mRNA vaccination. A 38-year-old woman presented with chest pain, mild dyspnea, and sweating after vaccination with mRNA-1273 vaccine (Moderna) 4 days prior to admission.Upon admission to the emergency department, cardiac enzymes were elevated; blood test performed 5 months ago showed normal platelet count, but severe thrombocytopenia was observed upon admission. After administration of intravenous immunoglobulin, the platelet count improved; subsequently, myocarditis was observed on endomyocardial biopsy. Thus, myocarditis and ITP were judged to have occurred simultaneously due to the expression of the innate immune system markers after mRNA vaccination. The patient was discharged on day 6 of admission.

Anesthesia for a patient with a large mediastinal mass is a challenge for anesthesiologists, given the risk of airway collapse and hemodynamic compromise. Moreover, there are very few reports on the anesthetic management of non-intubated video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). Thus, in the following case report, we provide an account of the successful anesthetic management and excisional biopsy of a large anterior mediastinal mass (measuring 13 × 10 cm) utilizing non-intubated VATS. The patient was kept awake, maintaining consciousness and spontaneous respiration throughout the procedure, in order to prevent devastating airway collapse and pain control and cough prevention were achieved by thoracic epidural analgesia and lidocaine nebulization.
Analgesia, Epidural ; Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, Epidural* ; Biopsy* ; Consciousness ; Cough ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Lidocaine ; Respiration ; Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted

Simvastatin is a lipid-lowering drug that is metabolized to its active metabolite simvastatin acid (SA). We developed and validated a sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method to quantitate SA in human plasma using a liquid-liquid extraction method with methanol. The protonated analytes generated in negative ion mode were monitored by multiple reaction monitoring. Using 500-mL plasma aliquots, SA was quantified in the range of 0.1-100 ng/mL. Calibration was performed by internal standardization with lovastatin acid, and regression curves were generated using a weighting factor of 1/χ2. The linearity, precision, and accuracy of this assay for each compound were validated using quality control samples consisting of mixtures of SA (0.1, 0.5, 5, and 50 ng/mL) and plasma. The intra-batch accuracy was 95.3-107.8%, precision was -2.2% to -3.7%, and linearity (r2) was over 0.998 in the standard calibration range. The chromatographic running time was 3.0 min. This method sensitively and reliably measured SA concentrations in human plasma and was successfully used in clinical pharmacokinetic studies of simvastatin in healthy Korean adult male volunteers.
Adult ; Calibration ; Humans* ; Liquid-Liquid Extraction ; Lovastatin ; Male ; Mass Spectrometry* ; Methanol ; Plasma* ; Protons ; Quality Control ; Running ; Simvastatin* ; Volunteers