Pulmonary
The Southwest Journal of Pulmonary and Critical Care publishes articles broadly related to pulmonary medicine including thoracic surgery, transplantation, airways disease, pediatric pulmonology, anesthesiolgy, pharmacology, nursing and more. Manuscripts may be either basic or clinical original investigations or review articles. Potential authors of review articles are encouraged to contact the editors before submission, however, unsolicited review articles will be considered.
January 2017 Pulmonary Case of the Month
Jamie Bering, MD
Lewis J. Wesselius, MD
Department of Pulmonary Medicine
Mayo Clinic Arizona
Scottsdale, AZ
History of Present Illness
The patient is a 53-year-old woman transferred for acute respiratory failure and hemoptysis. She has a prior history of antiphospholipid syndrome and recurrent diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH). She was admitted to another hospital about 2 weeks prior to transfer with hypoxic respiratory failure which ultimately required intubation. Bronchoscopy revealed a bloody aspirate raising concerns for recurrent DAH. She was started on high-dose solumedrol and extubated after 4 days. One week later, her respiratory status decompensated and her chest x-ray showed worsening diffuse bilateral opacities concerning for recurrent DAH. She was transferred to the Mayo Clinic Arizona for further evaluation. Upon arrival, she required 50% FiO2 by face mask to maintain adequate oxygenation and was started on broad-spectrum antibiotics. Her corticosteroids were tapered to 20 mg prednisone daily.
Past Medical History, Social History and Family History
She has a history of a mitral valve replacement with a St. Jude’s mechanical mitral valve and was on chronic anticoagulation with warfarin. In addition, there was a history of moderate aortic stenosis with moderate aortic insufficiency.
She had a history of diffuse alveolar hemorrhage, antiphospholipid antibody syndrome and possible systemic lupus erythematosus.
Medications
- Dapsone 100mg daily
- Ethacrynic acid 75mg daily
- Gabapentin 900mg QHS
- Lisinopril 20mg daily
- Meropenem 1g Q8 hrs
- Metoprolol 50 mg BID
- Prednisone 20mg daily
- Simvastatin 40mg QHS
- Vancomycin 1.5g Q12 hrs
- Warfarin 4mg T,F; 3mg SMWRSa
Physical Examination
- Vitals: T 36.3◦ C; HR 79 beats/min; BP 100/63 mm Hg; RR 26 breaths/min; SpO2 99% face mask
- Gen: no acute distress
- HEENT: hematoma on chin
- Lungs: clear to auscultation and percussion
- Cardiac: Mechanical valve click
Laboratory
- CBC: WBC 15,900 cells per microliter (mcL); Hemoglobin 9.1 g/dL; hematocrit 29%; platelet count 156,000 cells per microliter.
- Electrolytes: within normal limits.
- BUN and creatinine: within normal limits.
- Blood sugar: 220 mg/dL.
Radiography
Her initial chest x-ray is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Initial chest radiograph.
Which of the following best describes the chest x-ray? (Click on the correct answer to proceed to the second of four pages)
- Diffuse lung consolidation
- Previous median sternotomy
- Previous mitral valve replacement
- 1 and 3
- All of the above
Cite as: Bering J, Wesselius LJ. January 2017 pulmonary case of the month. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care. 2016;14(1):1-5. doi: https://doi.org/10.13175/swjpcc146-16 PDF