Search

the case we report: mildly elevated INR, arterial hypoxemia with normal chest radiograph, and dilated inferior vena cava suggestive of elevated right atrial pressure, possibly due to elevated pulmonary arterial pressure from thrombosis or hyperviscosity-induced obstruction. These features are eerily similar to COVID-19 suggesting the possibility that EBV infection could cause seizures with pathophysiology similar to COVID-19. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a rare and potentially fatal disease. Early implementation of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) has decreased the mortality rate from >90% to

Toxoplasma gondii usually causes an asymptomatic and then latent infection in human adults; however, a potentially fatal disseminated form can occur in immunocompromised patients. Given that the diagnosis of acute Toxoplasma infection, as opposed to latent disease, relies on finding direct evidence of T. gondii infection in tissue, pathologic examination is critical. There have only been a few reports describing the cytomorphology of Toxoplasma in exfoliative cytology, and no reports of the findings in Thin Prep. In this report, we describe a fatal case of toxoplasmosis in a cardiac transplant patient that was diagnosed by respiratory cytopathology. Although the extracellular organisms were well visualized on the Wright-Giemsa stained cytospin, they were only faintly seen on the Pap-stained cytospin trapped within mucin and were not easily appreciated on the ThinPrep slides nor the HE stained cell block sections. An immunohistochemical stain for Toxoplasma performed on the cell block was strongly positive, and an autopsy performed on the patient confirmed disseminated infection. Our case illustrates that the diagnosis of Toxoplasma in exfoliative cytology specimens can be challenging since organisms are not well visualized on ThinPrep or Pap-stained material; therefore, Wright-Giemsa stained material can be particularly helpful.

A 52-year-old-white male underwent double lung transplantation for severe emphysema due to alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency and heavy tobacco use. Following a postoperative course complicated by renal insufficiency, pulmonary emboli, and Clostridium difficile colitis, he was discharged in stable condition. Two months later, he was admitted to a local hospital with a fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, and dyspnea. Computerized tomography (CT) of the chest revealed bilateral pleural effusions. Sigmoidoscopy was grossly normal but biopsy demonstrated cytomegalovirus (CMV) colitis, and the patient was placed on intravenous ganciclovir. Over the next week, he became progressively hypoxemic and was transferred to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (post-transplant day 81) for further evaluation. His medications on transfer included: ganciclovir, prednisone, tacrolimus, dapsone, fluconazole, ondansetron, lansoprazole, digoxin, and coumadin.

Felix Mendelssohn was born in 1809 in Hamburg, Germany. He was the son of a banker, Abraham Mendelssohn. His father later changed his surname to Mendelssohn Bartholdy. His mother was Lea Salomon. Mendelssohn's grandfather was the great German-Jewish philosopher, Moses Mendelssohn. Keywords: Mendelssohn, Felix (1809–1847); his incidental score a midsummer night's dream; great romantics, inspiration from nature, life; Mendelssohn, the greatest child prodigy since Mozart