Friday, November 24, 2023

UDLCO : Case based reasoning, medical cognition and the debate around cardiologists practicing medicine

UDLCO summary :


CME India is a popular continuing medical education (recently termed continuing professional development) platform in India and CSI aka cardiology society India has it's own platform and this UDLCO merges two discussions in two different platforms using a common thread. The CME India thread begins with a professor of cardiology posting his case report around raised abdominal pressures causing a cardiogenic shock mimicker that was helped using a simple abdominal decompression using a flatus tube. This illustrates how a general medical cognition is always necessary even in cardiology that is often considered a focused area although the human organs are all connected in the same body and arise from a general embryological unit of stem cells as much as different specialities have been born  from a common general medicine father. 


Conversational transcripts initially through a quiz presented by a Prof of cardiology and an ensuing debate hinting at the current tension between case based and evidence based reasoning  :


[11/23, 1:11 PM] S M: *_Educational post*_ *_CCU caregivers_ *

A septuagenarian male, known case of ischaemic cardiomyopathy with severe biventricular dysfunction, presented with recurrent ventricular tachycardia, cardiogenic shock with multiorgan dysfunction. He improved with conservative management and serum creatinine including his blood gas parameters normalised. Despite initial improvement, he continued to be inotrope dependent. His intensive care unit monitor (ICU) and chest X-ray are shown. Ultrasound abdomen ruled out significant intra-abdominal pathology except gas shadows. His echocardiogram showed trivial pericardial effusion.




What is next best step to manage this case:
a. Increase Inotropes
b. Increase diuretics
c. Flatus tube colonic decompression
d. Add antibiotics

[11/23, 2:13 PM] +44 Key UK : Needs ionotropes- Dobutamibe, Levosemandan or enoximone. 

Pulse pressure is low indicating pump failure.  Still needs to rule out Aortic Stenosis. There is no temponade as suggested here.

Practically, needs cardiac output monitoring ( PICCO for example), Angio +/_TOE.

And may end up with mechanical device.
Before embarking on such invasive treatment, his baseline functional status( frailty score), realistic possibility of returning to baseline alobg wirh patient's expectations needs to be explored.

Just because we can do it doesn't mean we should do it.


[11/23, 2:28 PM] SM : 

1. Low pulse pressure does not always mean pump failure, it can occur in decreased preload conditions also.

2. Predictive value of low PP decreases when SBP decreases singinifcantly, hence sometime 1/4th of SBP taken as cut off for low PP. Here it’s more than 1/4th of SBP. (Please note the tracing rather the values which is measured as mean)

2. Aortic stenosis was ruled out (He was a on regular follow up)

Yes the patient might need MCS, however the next step is different as u can notice patient’s parameters were improving
I will recommend to see for the tracing rather than the absolute values.

[11/23, 4:17 PM] +44 Key UK : 

MAP of 50 with is too low just to rely on intra abdominal pressure. Certainly,  in real life scenario  most of us won't be comfortable with this MAP in ICU and  with only flatus tube, BP is unlikely to improve. 
But , I do agree if it's MCQ for an exam.
Thanks

[11/23, 10:41 PM] CME India: What's final answer
Deflate...

[11/23, 10:42 PM] S M : Yes sir.

[11/23, 10:42 PM] S M :



[11/23, 10:43 PM] S M : This was the first reported case of Pulsus paradoxus caused by Intraabdominal hypertension.


[11/23, 10:48 PM] S M : So initial step will be flatus tube decompression followed by assessment for MCS


[11/24, 7:09 AM] Rakesh Biswas: Is there RCT data for the efficacy of this intervention? 

Unlikely as the case number is likely to be low?

After reading the entire published article and seeing the pressure trace :

Read the report now and kudos to team Sri Chitra 

Loved the powerful simplicity of the  pressure trace depicting the fall of CVP, pulse and BP with the presumed rise of abdominal pressure (with some anatomical structural evidence in the form of X-ray)! 

Would have made a stronger case for causality perhaps if we had the event timed data (also showcasing multiple other currently unaccounted for events), to demonstrate your causal claim for, to quote from your paper  " relationship 
of this phenomenon was confirmed when pulsus paradoxus 
disappeared after flatus tube decompression of colon and 
correction of hypokalaemia (colonoscopic decompression if 
no improvement)."

COI statement : I have edited for multiple US and British publishers and one of them (BMJ) used to pay me in pounds for 5 years before I left working with the publishing industry and currently try to utilize tools such as 'case based reasoning'  applied to my field of interest aka "Medical cognition"

There's a dense article on case based reasoning here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC544898/ but I have a simpler introduction to medical cognition here :  http://userdrivenhealthcare.blogspot.com/2022/10/medical-cognition-tools-to-resolve.html?m=1

CSI debate thread :

[11/24, 2:52 PM] Shl : Debate Topic: Should cardiologists do General Medicine practice also side by side or sacrifice it?


[11/24, 4:39 PM] GT  : πŸ‘πŸ»Good question.... That's why we need a total revamp of medical education as suggested earlier. SeeπŸ‘‡πŸΌ


[11/24, 4:40 PM] GT (author of the link below) :



[11/25, 12:38 AM] B N : In USA, most of teachers in cardiology are designated as professor or director of Medicine, Division of Cardiology. 

That summerises the issue. Debate is not required.


[11/25, 12:39 AM] H S : Vice versa ??


[11/25, 7:30 AM] RM : There is a crack in everything

That's how the light gets in.

Thursday, November 23, 2023

UDLCO Subclinical Biochemical hyper/hypo/thyroidism pathophysiology evidence

Summary/Abstract :


An oft repeated question in the pathophysiology of subclinical biochemical hyper hypo thyroidism is how does normal t3, t4 from thyroid manage to provide feedback to pituitary to increase or reduce the release of TSH  from the pituitary! 

The following UDLCO not only comes close to answering it but also provides a new angle in terms of individual driven precision medicine! 


Conversational transcripts :

[11/9, 9:39 PM] CME India: 

A woman complains of unintended weight loss, palpitations, and anxiety. Laboratories show low thyroid stimulating hormone and normal free T4. Which of the following is the most likely explanation for these findings?


A.
Central hypothyroidism


B.
Lab error


C.
T3 hyperthyroidism


D.
Surreptitious levothyroxine ingestion


[11/15, 12:25 PM] S S : 

Subclinical hyperthyroidism 

The value ranges of thyroid hormones are quite wide

Sometimes when the hyperthyroidism begins to occur, the T4 T3 may rise mildly, enough to cause beginning of mild symptoms, but numerically within normal range

The TSH however, has a relatively greater change which is visible numerically 

Hence, subclinical thyroid disease occurs 

Usually, these progress further, and overt disease results


[11/22, 8:06 PM] Rakesh Biswas: Any reference to these statements about t3, t4 rising mildly but numerically within normal range? πŸ™‚πŸ™


[11/22, 8:34 PM] SS : Above is the reference for my statement 
An excellent article talking about how to interpret thyroid function tests
Gives all unusual circumstances which sometimes lead to discordant TFTs


[11/22, 8:48 PM] Rakesh Biswas: 

Thanks. 

In this write up, while the first line does have an in text citation with reference 3, the more important shaded line appears to be without a reference and is perhaps the author's opinion?


[11/22, 9:31 PM] A P : There is a linear inverse relationship between the serum free T 4 concentration and the log of the TSH , making the serum TSH concentration an exquisitely sensitive indicator of the thyroid state of patients with an intact hypothalamic-pituitary axis.

[11/22, 9:31 PM] AP : Williams Textbook of Endocrinology

11/22, 9:33 PM] AP : The log/linear relationship between thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) (on the vertical axis) and the free T 4 concentrations (FT 4 ). Typical free T 4 concentrations in hypothyroid, euthyroid, and hyperthyroid patients are shown.

[11/22, 9:19 PM] S S : One of the cross references


[11/22, 9:30 PM] Rakesh Biswas:

 Thanks. It looks promising.

Can you share the online URL to this article or text the title here so that I can try to get the full text?


[11/22, 9:32 PM] S S :


The link πŸ‘†


[11/22, 9:49 PM] Rakesh Biswas: Thanks for this very interesting study and conclusion that perhaps throws a new light onto our belief systems on how each one of us perceives "subclinical hypothyroidism" and I quote, 

"The individual reference ranges for test results were narrow, compared with group reference ranges used to develop laboratory reference ranges. Accordingly, a test result within laboratory reference limits is not necessarily normal for an individual. Because serum TSH responds with logarithmically amplified variation to minor changes in serum T(4) and T(3), abnormal serum TSH may indicate that serum T(4) and T(3) are not normal for an individual. A condition with abnormal serum TSH but with serum T(4) and T(3) within laboratory reference ranges is labeled subclinical thyroid disease. Our data indicate that the distinction between subclinical and overt thyroid disease (abnormal serum TSH and abnormal T(4) and/or T(3)) is somewhat arbitrary. For the same degree of thyroid function abnormality, the diagnosis depends to a considerable extent on the position of the patient's normal set point for T(4) and T(3) within the laboratory reference range."



Thursday, November 16, 2023

PaJR Jarvis reports : The final entry for a fourteen year old boy with hypersplenism

11th  November :

Today's PaJR patient death and verbal autopsy along with highlights of his life journey:


Summary of the conversational transcripts below : 

All events described are real events from our PaJR Jarvis ecosystem (described earlier here: https://userdrivenhealthcare.blogspot.com/2022/09/current-pajr-workflow-and-how-to-make.html?m=0) and none of the characters are fictional as our ecosystem doesn't have that kind of creativity (more about our ecosystem here:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6163835/). 

Our ecosystem also serves as a Jarvis training model and all characters have been deidentified and anonymized to protect their privacy and remove PHI. 

The years suffixed to each Jarvis agent indicate their year of recruitment.  The transcripts highlight the abilities of various PaJR Jarvis agents to support a single patient through a non traditionally dyadic information infrastructure (more here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4587042/). 

Major medical cognition EQ churning points in the transcripts probably are the introduction to this 14 year old bright school boy in rural India with his final PaJR entry by PaJR Jarvis 2020 informing us of his death as received through his father's phone call and the flashbacks containing the good times Jarvis shared with the boy (who got him a special food treat for taking care of him described somewhere in the middle of the transcript) and rest are medical cognition IQ churning points. 

Much of this boy's actual EQ transcripts are left unsaid such as the moments he enjoyed with his family (especially after the weight of his spleen was removed), inspite of all the suffering he endured through his illness journey shunted throughout various hospital beds in rural and urban Hyderabad.



Conversational agent transcripts :

[11/11, 7:33 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020: Good morning sir 


He expired today morning sir around 5:30-6:00am sir


[11/11, 7:34 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020
: Just now talked to his father


[11/11, 7:35 AM] 2020 PaJR Jarvis 2020
: It was a sudden turn of events it seems sir 

He had fever for the past two days 
He felt breathless suddenly it seems was taken to a local hospital and he expired it seems sir



[11/11, 7:52 AM] Rakesh Biswas: Sepsis that was difficult to withstand post splenectomy?



[11/11, 7:55 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

: His father was saying 

He even went to his grandmothers house the previous day and was alright it seems sir



[11/11, 7:59 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020
: He also had pain abdomen and few episodes of vomiting


[11/11, 8:02 AM] Rakesh Biswas: Abdominal sepsis 

Probably Intraabdominal abscess


[11/11, 8:05 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020
: Sepsis leading to

Any Embolism ?? Sir



[11/11, 8:12 AM] Rakesh Biswas: Possible



Flashback from his PaJR events:


[8/30/2022, 6:23 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2019: 

When this boy had jaundice initially he was managed by a pediatrician ( who was his  relative) ,and he advised to get them basic investigations. They repeated CBP ,LFT and found that his bilirubin was increasing and hemoglobin was decreasing,that's when he referred to us .
On initial investigation and on background history of chronic diarrhoea secondary to malabsorption, and thyroid disease .with moderate splenomegaly and coombs positive we thought some autoimmune mediated hemolysis / secondary to vit B12 deficiency .so we started him on steroid and vit B12 ,and his pancytopenia resolved and then discharged.


[8/30/2022, 6:24 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2019: His USG abdomen showed moderate splenomegaly at that time of presentation



[8/31/2022, 6:10 PM] Rakesh Biswas: A CASE OF UNCERTAINITY?

Is there any case that is certain. Better remove this from the title. 

Uncertainty exists only if we think. Previously there was no uncertainty but of late we have started thinking


[8/31/2022, 6:23 PM] Metapsychist Number 1 Kims 2015: Can overdosage of thyroxine cause weight loss?


[8/31/2022, 6:34 PM] Rakesh Biswas: @⁨PaJR Jarvis 2020 Did we sort out his thyroxine per kg Dose? Is his current Dose ok or high?


[8/31/2022, 6:46 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020a: In congenital hypothyroidism maximum dose given can be 8mcg/kg/day sir.


[8/31/2022, 6:48 PM] Rakesh Biswas: What is our patient's weight?

[8/31/2022, 7:01 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020a

: 45kgs sir


[8/31/2022, 7:02 PM] Rakesh Biswas: How much is the Dose coming to as per the data you shared (not the congenital hypothyroidism where you didn't share any evidence yet)?


[8/31/2022, 7:02 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020a
: Am searching for maximum dose in autoimmune thyroiditis sir. But i could nt find an appropriate article sir


[8/31/2022, 7:04 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020a

: Max dose according to weight is 2.5 mcg/kg/day which is around 112.5 MCG/day sir


[8/31/2022, 7:30 PM] Rakesh Biswas: And since when is he on 200 mcg per day?


[8/31/2022, 7:44 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

: Since approx 3 yrs sir


[9/2/2022, 7:03 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020a

: Apart from splenomegaly 
We couldn’t find anything 
Going by today’s endoscopy


[9/2/2022, 7:04 PM] Rakesh Biswas: Strange that you say this after doing his ultrasound. What were the portal and splenic vein diameters that you saw? Can they be explained by any other condition?


[9/2/2022, 7:05 PM] Rakesh Biswas: Let's not spam the patient advocates in the PaJR groups but rather spam the 2017 interns


[9/2/2022, 7:05 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

: That’s what sir 
Dilated splenic 
And portal vein 

Is this a noise or signal ?? πŸ˜…


[9/2/2022, 9:58 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

: They want to get discharged itseems sir tomorrow



[9/2/2022, 10:02 PM] Rakesh Biswas: Share the deidentified summary in the case report link.


[9/2/2022, 10:02 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020


: Yes sir


[11/15/2022, 11:18 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

: Inputs from ex elite stark jarviites of Hyderabad on this boy :

[11/14, 10:50 PM] Rakesh Biswas: Can we utilize this group's "group think" to help a 14 year old boy currently with us? 

He has hypothyroidism since 2016 currently on 200 mcg of thyroxine per day along with a massive splenomegaly and dilated spleno portal vein more than 1.5 cm. 

We had sent him to NIMs for portal pressure measurements and a TIPs liver biopsy if possible to rule in NCPF. 

He was seen by Gastro OPD in NIMs and treated as tropical splenomegaly and adviced splenectomy for which he has returned to us. They also got the bone marrow biopsy which suggested hypersplenism. His WBC counts are 1500 and platelets 20,000

Would a splenectomy be safe without a portal spleno renal shunt? Would be looking forward to learning from the group inputs here. 

More sequential information about the patient is in his working case report link here :


[11/14, 11:01 PM]: Stark Jarvis 1

Clinical picture is looking more like an NCPF , 
Upper GI endoscopy to rule out varices 
LFT to have priliminary idea about portal biliopathy 
Good clinical history to rule out symptomatic hypersplenism And growth retardation 
 CT Portovenography and look for splenic and renal vein diameters




[11/14, 11:02 PM]: SJ 2

If there is an indication 
Proximal spleno renal shunt might be the choice of surgery


[11/14, 11:14 PM] : SJ 3

With advances in Interventional Radiology, may be Gel Foam occlusion of the main splenic artery can be attempted.....


[11/14, 11:14 PM] : 



[11/14, 11:22 PM] : SJ 4

This case represents forward flow portal hypertension due to a large spleen and excess blood flowing through the routine splenoportal axis. In cases where liver dysfunction is not there, cirrhosis is excluded, there will be no need for a splenorenal shunt. Simple splenectomy will reduce the pressures. However if cirrhosis or NCPF is there, they would need a shunt since resistance is at sinusoidal level in the liver in both these conditions and it would persist even after splenectomy.

We would need an endoscopy to look for portal hypertension features like varices, portal hypertensive gastropathy. It's always better to get a liver biopsy and HVPG measurement before proceeding further. Since platelet count is low and cannot support a liver biopsy, we can ask Interventional radiologist to do a trans jugular liver biopsy and measure HVPG (hepatic venous portal gradient) in same sitting.

Splenic artery embolization is a good technique but with a massive spleen it might create troubles like massive splenic infarct causing pain, infection, abscess, etc. Better to undergo splenectomy than embolization in such massive spleens.



[11/14, 11:28 PM] : SJ5

Ncpf vs hypersplenism
Requires minimum of splenectomy 
Preop biopsy can give an idea of ncpf
Intraop portal pressures can be measured post splenectomy 

Splenic artery embolization has inferior results compared to conventional splenectomy
 Does not work well with massive splenomegaly and has attendant severe complications when done in massive splenomegaly 

Thanks


[11/14, 11:29 PM]: SJ 6

Shunt should be considered if post splenectomy pressures are significantly high post splenectomy


[11/15, 5:32 AM] : SJ 7


1. Crucial information needed is presence or absence of oesophago-gastric varices and their grade. 

2. Symptomatic massive splenomegaly with hyperdynamic circulation, no/insignificant varices and hypersplenism - *Simple splenectomy* 

3. Symptomatic massive splenomegaly with hypersplenism and varices - *Splenectomy with shunt* 

4. Asymptomatic splenomegaly and asymptomatic well-tolerated hypersplenism - *No surgery* 

4. No role for shunt surgery in pre-primary prophylaxis. Some role in selected patients in primary prophylaxis and definite role in secondary prophylaxis in non-cirrhotics. 

5. HVPG as a marker of PH and as a predictive factor for variceal development in cirrhotics and for chemoprophylaxis is well-recognized. *Any evidence in noncirrhotics?*


[11/15, 6:43 AM] SJ 8 : This young male has 

 Symptomatic massive splenomegaly with hypersplenism 

as SJn suggested (point no 2) - SIMPLE SPΔΉENECTOMY is enough.


There are no varices either on endoscopy or in imaging.

Points for discussion 

1. Coomb’s positive - patient 
   was given steroids ? AIHA
   
2. Thyroid dysfunction- 
    should we rule out 
    Hashimoto’s?

3.  Should we consider 
    Evan’s syndrome 

Overall  a Simple Splenectomy will be useful in most of there scenarios.


[11/15, 7:26 AM] SJ 8

: In addition to TPO antibodies and ensuring he is taking tablet on empty stomach,we need to consider "consumption component" due to organomegaly ( as he is requiring high dose of levothyroxine).


[11/15, 7:27 AM] SJ 8 : As long as he is euthyoid,fit for surgical procedure,if no  other autoimmune conditions.πŸ‘πŸ»


[11/15, 8:06 AM] SJ 9: is it not necessary to rule out ncpf before we opt for splenectomy , how far splenectomy be beneficial in ncpf or any portal vien thrombosis


[11/15, 8:41 AM] SJ 10 : This patient is having 
  Symptomatic massive  
  splenomegaly with 
   hypersplenism.

No evidence of any portal vein thrombus in the imaging.
No varices on UGI scopy.
( if it is EHPVO - Splenectomy in this patient will be almost a cure).

Simple splenectomy will be a practical & beneficial to the patient.

A wedge liver biopsy during splenectomy will be useful for long term follow up.

Even if it is NCPF - when there are no signs of any varices - role of prophylactic shunt surgery is questionable.


[11/15, 8:52 AM] SJ 11 :

 Young boy 
With splenomegaly and hypersplenism

Definitely need evaluation 
for AIHA and Evans 

Such a picture can be seen in inborn errors of immunity 
Ex CVID, autoimmune lyphoproliferative syndrome( Evans like picture would be seen) , which are often missed 

Before exploring surgical options 
Immunoglobulin level estimation, double negative T cells estimation is important .



[11/15, 8:58 AM] SJ 11: I agree with you completely about the further work up for autoimmune etc…

But at this point of time for this young boy with symptomatic Massive splenomegaly and hypersplenism - splenectomy is a good option.

About the work up either you can do pre-operative or post-operative.

Follow up accordingly.

[11/15, 9:04 AM] SJ 12: Any surgery in portal hypertension except Liver transplant is at best a palliative procedure, intended to reduce pressure in the most significant locations in the portal venous system, in order to prevent life-threatening oesophago-gastric bleeds and problems of portal biliopathy or symptoms of massive symptomatic splenomegaly and splenic sequestration.

[11/15, 9:12 AM] SJ 7: I think in a 14 year young boy 
Splenectomy alone may cause oesophago-gastric varices and portal biliopathy in the future 
So adding shunt procedure would be beneficial 
As the natural course following splenectomy alone is unpredictable


[11/15, 9:20 AM] SJ 7: In the 80s and 90s,  the staging of Hodgkins Lymphoma was through a formal staging lapatomy, that included splenectomy.

Over the past 40 years, we have followed these children.
So far we have not encountered any evidence of portal hypertension in a single patient (now adults).

Strangely, pneumococcal pneumonia too appears to be not so common in splenectomised Indians.

I will be very happy to have a peripheral smear of this patient.

It will be a good teaching slide...reflecting all the senescent and defective cells which would have otherwise been removed by the spleen.


[11/15, 9:23 AM] SJ 10: The only patient I lost to was an adult with an inborn error in erythroid membrane, splenectomised on advice at CMC.

He manifested post operatively and over the next couple of years with arterial thrombi.

And, finally succumbed to massive pulmonary embolism.


[11/15/2022, 11:56 AM] Rakesh Biswas: My response to their responses :


Thanks for these very useful inputs that will go a long way to help this 14 year old, bright school boy from Nalgonda and also demonstrate the positive power of group think in this August group. 


Few of you have also gone through his details shared in the working case report link and already some of the queries raised here have been answered such as the absence of varices etc. 


If we go through the working case report link we also find that he does have an immune mediated inflammation going on in multiple organ systems since childhood involving intestine, thyroid, RBCs etc and presented with features of hypersplenism and severe pancytopenia this time. We may find a lot more detail about his childhood sequence of events as well as family history in the working case report link shared above to understand his immune dysfunction better (although it's still a very sketchy description now at best). 


As pointed out by many here,  we too were apprehensive about our planned splenectomy causing his current portal pressures into getting redirected to his currently non existing varices or even peritoneal capillaries causing bleeds and ascites that is absent at present but as SJn clarified , this current Portal hypertension could be due to splenic flow redistribution so a simple splenectomy may suffice but yes an HVPG and possibly TIPs liver biopsy would be useful to reduce the diagnostic uncertainty before proceeding with the splenectomy and this was also the reason we had sent him to NIMs. 


Our rural medical college surgeons can do the splenectomy (also perhaps with a per operative liver biopsy) at low-cost and like all our rural patients here, they too may not be able to afford much.


Following the above discussion it appears that we may not be able to reduce the diagnostic uncertainty around his portal pressures and NCPF any better than this so it may be best  to quickly offer him the splenectomy (with per operative liver biopsy) here in our rural medical college? 


Or should he be operated in a set up where one can check his perop portal pressures and offer a PSRS (proximal spleno renal shunt) decision right on table (although again it may become unaffordable perhaps)?


Will be glad to learn more from your inputs. 


[11/16/2022, 2:32 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

: Sir 
Should we go ahead with splenectomy and liver biopsy ?? 

His parents are asking for splenectomy too sir


[11/16/2022, 2:35 PM] Rakesh Biswas: Yes let's. Off course only if our surgeons agree


[11/22/2022, 11:51 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

Sir 
BAL is done 
I have found about 
Beta d glucan and galactamine tests 

It will costing them 10000 and 8400 separately


[11/22/2022, 12:01 PM] 
PaJR Jarvis 2018
: What is the latest on him ? Why was a BAL done ?

[11/22/2022, 12:21 PM] Rakesh Biswas: Poor sensitivity 50% and specificity 80% for a test costing 10,000



[11/22/2022, 12:22 PM] Rakesh Biswas: The next question is if these biomarkers are better in distinguishing colonizing Aspergillus from pathogens? 

For that we need to review other literature


[11/22/2022, 1:16 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

: His endoscopy video : https://youtu.be/Iq74qwi5Aws


[11/22/2022, 1:18 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

: Good afternoon sir 

Yesterday we had a CDM (clinico diagnostic meet)  

His HRCT was showing GGO’s 
?? Halo sign 

They want to rule out fungal etiology sir 
They asked us to get the BAL done before surgery

[11/22/2022, 1:49 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2018

: There is something sinister here perhaps ? Are you considering any other immunodeficiency syndromes ?

Our recently accepted publication tells that is badly underdiagnosed

[11/22/2022, 2:04 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020a

: Immunoglobulin electrophoresis was normal i guess sir. Please validate this @PaJR Jarvis 2020


[11/22/2022, 2:16 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2018

: What about Neutrophil disorders ? Phagocytic disorders ? T cell disorders ? And combined immunodeficiencies ?

[11/25/2022, 4:41 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

: Good afternoon sir


[11/25/2022, 4:41 PM] : PaJR Jarvis 2020

The FNAC report of lymph node and thyroid is showing mets sir


[11/25/2022, 4:50 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020: 

Thyroid is suggestive of bethesda cat 2


[11/25/2022, 6:03 PM] Rakesh Biswas: 

Is lung the primary. 

Please update this in the case report and let me again share it in the PGI group where many oncologists actually appreciated your case report. 

Hopefully we can send him to them and let's hope this is a treatable lymphoma



[11/25/2022, 6:07 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020


Updating sir


[11/25/2022, 6:21 PM] :PaJR Jarvis 2020
 


[11/25/2022, 6:29 PM] Rakesh Biswas:

 You need to upload the HRCT images showing the findings of "ground glass opacities and  Halo sign"

Also you should have described the BAL report below the sentence where you said we did the BAL because of halo sign. 

Also why haven't you mentioned the most important part of the BAL report that is showing positive for malignancy. 

Please update the above and let me know asap


[11/26/2022, 9:46 AM] Rakesh Biswas: The statement in this report appears grossly contradictory to your current understanding? @⁨PaJR Jarvis 2020


[11/26/2022, 9:52 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020
: Updated sir yesterday 
Will edit that part

[11/26/2022, 10:07 AM] Rakesh Biswas: What does it mean? 

Does he have malignancy in his BAL fluid cytology or not?

[11/26/2022, 10:09 AM] : PaJR Jarvis 2020

Yes sir 

Cytology is showing for malignancy

[11/26/2022, 10:11 AM] Rakesh Biswas: Am I not right about our need to have more training in reading and writing?

[11/26/2022, 10:13 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

: Yes sir 
My mistake


[11/26/2022, 10:13 AM] Rakesh Biswas: Our mistake

[11/26/2022, 10:15 AM] Rakesh Biswas: When you do something good for the patient , it will be your own reward. 

Mistakes are our collective responsibility πŸ‘


[11/26/2022, 11:09 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020
: Sir 
I have talked to brig sir
They want to go for Inguinal lymph node biopsy 
And also want to get a laryngoscope 

Tumor board meeting might be on Wednesday itseems and 
Probably tentative date for splenectomy is on Thursday sir.


[11/26/2022, 11:15 AM] Rakesh Biswas: Review the literature and share if splenectomy is advisable in lymphoma


[11/26/2022, 12:12 PM] Rakesh Biswas: Ours is not a primary splenic lymphoma. 

At the moment the pathology appears to be in the lung and lymph nodes

[11/26/2022, 12:24 PM] Rakesh Biswas: Another reading (or texting) mistake of "ours" @⁨PaJR Jarvis 2020
 @⁨ PaJR Jarvis 2019⁩ 

Thyroid is not showing metastasis? 

Did you review what is Thyroid Bethesda Category 2?


[11/26/2022, 12:25 PM] : PaJR Jarvis 2020

Yes sir 
It is benign condition


[11/26/2022, 12:27 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020
: I have mentioned thyroid is Bethesda’s 2 sir


[11/26/2022, 12:28 PM] Rakesh Biswas: πŸ‘†is this text right?


[11/26/2022, 12:29 PM]: PaJR Jarvis 2020
It was a text message mistake sir 
I have mentioned again tagging that that it’s showing Bethesda 2

[11/26/2022, 12:30 PM] Rakesh Biswas: If text messages are meant for communication then they can also communicate mistakes

[11/27/2022, 11:25 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

: He is having fever spikes since the procedure.

[11/27/2022, 11:28 AM] Rakesh Biswas: Sepsis. 

Hope he's on febrile neutropenia regime? 

Please share his current antibiotic treatment schedule

[11/27/2022, 11:52 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020
: We are to start with 
Piptaz or magnex forte ( cefaperazone and sulbactam )  from today sir 
These are based on Micro mam’s inputs from CDM sir


[11/27/2022, 11:53 AM] Rakesh Biswas: Look up the current guidleines for managing febrile neutropenia sepsis. Share in Microbology group

[11/27/2022, 11:53 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020
: On it sir

[11/27/2022, 6:13 PM] Rakesh Biswas: In the 53M you shared here it's unclear if this was a primary splenic lymphoma. 

Our 14M is unlikely to be primary splenic lymphoma given that he has good demonstrable involvement in the lung 

Again many unanswered general knowledge questions around the origin of lymphomas in various organs (primary) followed by spread to other organs (secondarily) and PNI connections to his autoimmune past and his lymphomatous present both possibly driven by PNI @⁨PaJR Jarvis
Psychologist⁩ @⁨Metapsychist Number 1 Kims 2015⁩

[11/27/2022, 7:09 PM] : PaJR Jarvis 2020


Lymphnodes sir 

Although bone marrow biopsy was not done I guess sir

[11/27/2022, 7:30 PM] Rakesh Biswas: Don't guess. That's not a good part of our training program. 

Check the NIMs discharge summary. As far as I can recall they did do the bone marrow and found nothing other than bone marrow hyperplasia suggesting hypersplenism

[11/27/2022, 7:39 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

: Sir 
I meant with the shared case report, bcz bone marrow biopsy was mentioned.

Our patient’s
Bone marrow and lymph node which was done on 23th Sept showed reactive marrow 
Normocellular 
Normal distribution of rbc and myeloid lineage 

Megakaryocytes were found around 4-6 on HPF


[11/29/2022, 9:12 PM] Rakesh Biswas: We have a tumor board meeting tomorrow for this patient https://raveen7795.blogspot.com/2022/11/14m-massive-splenomegaly.html , which everyone interested in him should attend


[11/29/2022, 9:13 PM] Rakesh Biswas: 12-1 PM Dhanwantari hall


[11/29/2022, 9:13 PM] Raveen 2020 Pg Med KIMs: Okay sir


[11/30/2022, 2:51 PM] Rakesh Biswas: @⁨PaJR Jarvis 2020
Please show the patient to the pulmonologist and get his note suggesting that there is no pulmonological contraindication to OT tomorrow


[12/1/2022, 8:07 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020
: I had night duty sir 
Today morning I have ICU duty 

I have put vamsi as replacement in ICU for the OT time sir

[12/1/2022, 8:14 AM] Rakesh Biswas: Vamsi will be with us in exams. 

Find someone else for ICU

[12/1/2022, 8:30 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

: Manasa is replacing this


[12/24/2022, 4:11 PM] Rakesh Biswas: @⁨PaJR Jarvis 2020
⁩ Please share his liver biopsy report done from both places asap

[12/24/2022, 4:32 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

: Biopsy Reports have been uploaded sir 

Trends of hemogram post surgery are to be updated 

Will share after its done sir

[12/25/2022, 10:42 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

: They came for follow up 2-3 days back sir

Jan 2023 patient is presented in the annual CPD on clinical complexity :


[2/28, 12:12 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

Sir he came for endoscopy
Gastro sir is not doing endoscopy it seems sir


[2/28, 2:06 PM] Raveen 2020 Pg Med KIMs: Thank you for the fish fry !! πŸ˜‹@⁨patient 14M 

[2/28, 3:44 PM] patient 14M : It's my pleasure sir TQ sir πŸ™πŸ™πŸ™

[3/2, 10:41 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

: Normal CBC 3 month follow up post surgery. Freed from the pancytopenia of his hypersplenism 

[3/2, 10:56 AM] Rakesh Biswas: Great outcome without a diagnosis yet. @⁨PaJR Jarvis 2018  Diagnosing is overrated!! πŸ™‚

[3/2, 5:00 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2018

: Haha. Possibly.

But I think we may not have the same joy had the outcomes been otherwise?

I think inspite of us not fully knowing the diagnosis, splenectomy was the right step for whatever that diagnosis was. Diagnosis here is simply hidden data.


[3/2, 5:05 PM] Rakesh Biswas: The current 22F patient may also need to be operated with hidden data

[3/2, 5:06 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2018

: Yes sir.


[3/2, 5:11 PM] Rakesh Biswas: πŸ‘†@⁨PaJR Jarvis 2020

⁩ It's not there in his case report. Please check if the sequence of information and investigations are updated there


[3/2, 7:24 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

: I updated in the blog sir 
Both the outside liver biopsy 
s/o NCPF 

And our college

[3/2, 7:30 PM] Rakesh Biswas: That outside liver biopsy report was from? 

We should place the different liver biopsy reports side by side in one image 

[3/2, 7:30 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

: Thyrocare sir 
Lab in Nalgonda

@⁨PaJR Jarvis 2020c 
⁩ Had also made a case report link on this patient. Can it be shared here?

[3/2, 7:31 PM] [3/2, 7:30 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020


IF SPLEEN COULD SPEAK πŸ˜‚
Some fun learningπŸ˜„
Hope you guys like it!


[3/2, 7:37 PM] Rakesh Biswas: Thanks

I just checked your case report link and the last para of the case report is 

Quote 

20 days back he had history of pain abdomen and was admitted in the hospital in their vicinity and was advised splenectomy.

Is there any other link to his updated case report? 


[3/2, 7:39 PM] Rakesh Biswas: Please update his case report with all the data in sequence including all images for example CT abdomen etc showing his massive spleen, his post operative spleen specimen etc 

Also paste all the PaJR conversations since the PaJR began into a case report header "Discussion CDSS (conversational decision support system)

[3/2, 7:40 PM] Rakesh Biswas: Including histopathological images

[3/2, 7:27 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2018

: If indeed even our 22/F does have NCPF or BCS or Veno occlusive disease, will be interested in publishing a case series on their journies.

[5/5, 7:48 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2018

: @⁨PaJR Jarvis 2020

⁩ when you find time, can you please update the case log and follow up. Only when you find time.

[5/5, 7:48 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2018


: Sharing it with some students here and they may not get the full picture when they see the blog.

[5/5, 7:56 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2018

: Okay sir

[5/14, 6:24 AM]PaJR Jarvis 2020


: 6 months follow up

[5/14, 6:57 AM] Rakesh Biswas: Current diagnosis?

[5/14, 7:53 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020


: Sir am still skeptical about 
Storage disorders 

Am still going for a autoimmune disorders 

I was reviewing yesterday night 
Regarding 

Can this be Primary immune regulatory Disorders ?? Or immunodeficiency ( Immune electrophoresis met a dead end for this ) 

Autoimmune cytopenias 
Immunoglobulin class shifts 

He is having eosinophilia too 
Last time too 

?Autoimmune hemolytic anemia 
?Auto immune neutropenia 
?Autoimmune thyroiditis ( fitting for NCPF top ) 
?Lymphoprolifetation 
He still has lymphadenopathy

[5/14, 8:08 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

: His 
Immunoelectrophoresis was showing 
High levels of IgM

[5/14, 9:02 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020


: Autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS) is characterized by immune dysregulation due to a defect in lymphocyte apoptosis. The clinical manifestations may be noted in multiple family members and include lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly, increased risk of lymphoma and autoimmune disease, which typically involve hematopoietic cell lines manifesting as multilineage cytopenias.

The inherited genetic defect of many ALPS patients has involved (FAS) pathway signaling proteins, but there remain those patients who carry undefined genetic defects. Despite ALPS having historically been considered a primary immune defect presenting in early childhood, adult onset presentation is increasingly becoming recognized, and more so in genetically undefined patients and those with somatic FAS mutations.

The most common laboratory abnormalities found are cytopenias due to autoimmune destruction or splenic sequestration. Conversely, eosinophilia and monocytosis may also be associated findings[13]. Autoantibodies may be present and include positive Coomb’s direct antiglobulin test, rheumatoid factor (RF), or anti-nuclear antigen (ANA). Hypergammaglobulinemia is also frequently present[12]. Serum IL-10, soluble FAS ligand, and vitamin B12 are commonly elevated in ALPS patients with FAS mutations and can be useful biomarkers[14, 15] for these patients, but may not be abnormal in those with unidentified genetic mutations. Although not commercially available, flow cytometry of the blood for increased number of DNTs can be performed and is pathognomonic of ALPS
[5/14, 9:03 AM] :PaJR Jarvis 2020


[5/14, 9:03 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020


: He is also fitting in ALPS πŸ˜…πŸ˜…

[5/14, 9:03 AM] Rakesh Biswas: First tell us the morphologic diagnosis

[5/14, 9:06 AM] Rakesh Biswas: If you start with an infinite etiological approach every patient will fit into everything. 

That's the reason history and clinical examination localization is the first step 

What's the differential for a massive splenomegaly with dilated portal venous system?

[5/14, 9:13 AM] Rakesh Biswas: Where are the post operative images of his spleen sample and liver and spleen histopathology?

[5/14, 9:15 AM] Rakesh Biswas: It's the other way round? 

Autoimmunity can produce secondary CVID?

[5/14, 11:03 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020


: Functional - Mass per abdomen with recurrent vomiting 
Recurrent respiratory tract infections 
Anatomical - Portal vein 

Pathological - portal vein fibrosis ( non cirrhotic portal vein fibrosis ) 
Etiological - immune mediated
Lymphoproliferative 
Autoimmune spectrum

[5/14, 11:05 AM] Rakesh Biswas: Also add the legends to these images and you can borrow from the original pathology reports acknowledging the original pathologist's reports. 

Take @⁨PaJR Jarvis 2018
and an interested pathology faculty as coauthors if you want to report this in BMJ after your exams

[5/14, 11:15 AM] PaJR Jarvis 2020


: Absolutely sir πŸ‘πŸ½

[5/14, 12:04 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020


: Sir 
Once review this article sir 

ALPS presents in childhood with lymphadenopathy, hypersplenism, and multilineage cytopenias. Many patients experience a lessening of symptoms in adulthood, most likely due to age-associated immune modulation. ALPS due to germline FAS mutations is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner (2, 3), however somatic FAS mutations limited to circulating lymphocyte subsets leading to clinical manifestations of ALPS have also been reported over the years

Over many years of follow-up, the general morbidity attributable to ALPS includes the frequent need for splenectomy and the risks of overwhelming post-splenectomy infection (OPSI) leading to sepsis, recurrent and chronic multilineage cytopenias, and development of lymphomas

ALPS patients have been noted to have a unique IgM-mediated immune surveillance defect following exposure to pneumococci (7–9). Among the 66 splenectomized patients in our recently published cohort, 41% (n = 27) had multiple episodes of pneumococcal sepsis, and 6 of them died. The likelihood of cytopenia relapse after splenectomy was 30% by 4 years and exceeded 70% by 20 years thus underscoring the futility of splenectomy itself as an intervention.

We recently summarized our experience related to cytopenias in 150 patients with ALPS-FAS with a median follow-up of 13.5 years (8). Recurrent multilineage cytopenias were common, seen in two-thirds (104/150) of them. Their median age of initial presentation was 5.6 years with a range of age of disease onset from 1 to 53 years. There were no gender differences. Single lineage, bilineage, and trilineage cytopenias were seen in 21, 23, and 25% of them, respectively

Coomb’s DAT positive without overt hemolytic anemia



[5/14, 12:21 PM]PaJR Jarvis 2020



: He was having generalised lymphadenopathy right from the beginning sir 


We did once for cervical 
And one in inguinal region 

One cervical biopsy in NIMS 

Post operatively 
Mesenteric sir

[5/14, 12:21 PM] Rakesh Biswas: What's the histopathology of that?

[5/14, 12:22 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020


: They gave reactive for Mesenteric 

Rosai dorfman for 
Cervical and inguinal πŸ˜…

[5/14, 12:25 PM] Rakesh Biswas: Are all these sequence of events for this patient arranged in an appreciable sequence in your patient?

[5/14, 12:27 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020

: Yes sir

[5/27, 2:56 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2020


: Update from the father 

He had a history of fall 
Causing left forearm both bone fractures 

Based on the fathers note 
He had ? boils( ?eating a lot of mangoes)


5/27, 4:15 PM] Rakesh Biswas: How bad was the fall? Or was this a pathological fracture?

[5/27, 5:55 PM] PaJR Jarvis 2018


: I have asked for the x ray 
Yet to be shared sir

[5/28, 12:44 AM] Rakesh Biswas: Thanks

After the above entry in May 2023 the next update in November 2023 is the father's phone call informing about his son's death 



Glossary of User driven healthcare

Glossary of terms :

Medical cognition :

Other than routine medical cognition tools of  system 1 eyeballing pattern recognition, we use routine tools of system 2 asynchronous intelligence AI, aka primordial AI aka academic learning to solve real patient problems.

Developing the Medical metacognition problem statement at the beginning of the introduction to all our ongoing projects is because, it's at the core of all our projects using both system 1 and 2 cognitive processing:

System 2 thinking began as an asynchronous academic tool to make communication and thinking slower to suit our individual workflows. 

However this essence of academics also makes our three dimensional existential reality two dimensional as that helps to somehow better analyze our three dimensional existence manifest in daily random events and even manipulate the randomness toward apparently improved outcome events.

Of all the routine system 2 tools, we have been largely enamoured by a few that we have written about  in the past and  continue to use them daily in our community patient follow up and family adoption through online PaJR groups which are the online components of our case based blended learning ecosystem CBBLE and the two have evolved from what has been often described in the past as "user driven healthcare" which has it's own big fat text book here :  https://www.amazon.in/User-Driven-Healthcare-Narrative-Medicine-Collaborative/dp/1609600975
as well as had a journal with the same name since 2011 here: https://www.igi-global.com/journal/international-journal-user-driven-healthcare/41022

Medical cognition can be formally defined as a "broad area consisting of various system 1 and system 2 human cognitive tools to resolve clinical complexity (diagnostic and therapeutic uncertainty). These tools are often used through various medical cognitive platforms such as synchronous face to face interactions (often system 1) and asynchronous communication and learning between multiple stakeholders in connected web space (user driven healthcare UDHC, patient journey records PaJR) and blended to form "case based blended learning ecosystems CBBLE (often a blend of system 1 and 2). 



User driven healthcare UDHC : Subset of "Medical Cognition' globally where multiple users, all healthcare stakeholders including patients, interact online to understand and take decisions on meeting patient requirements. 






Here's about how it transformed into the current CBBLE since 2017 at Narketpally : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6163835/


CBBLE (pronounced cable) : Case based blended learning ecosystem that is available locally in many institutions and some are connected globally to each other. CBBLE is different from UDHC in that it is not purely online but blended offline and online. 


PaJR : The key concept lies in the use of regular patient reported outcomes to locate the phase of illness in a 

patient journey. 


Ontology : "theory of objects and their ties. It provides criteria for distinguishing different types of objects (concrete and abstract, existent and nonexistent, real and ideal, independent and dependent) and their ties (relations, dependencies and predication)."


Every medical student may remember how important it was to know the relations of every organ in their first introduction to medicine through human anatomy. 




UDLCO :

User driven learning community ontologies



3) UDL :

User driven learning 



4) Patient centered UDLCO (particular patient knowledge aka age old precision medicine ) :


Sample :

Here's an example of a pico rubric in the UDLCO conversational learning format that sets the context. 

Once you scroll down by 60% of the page you begin to see the pico and further dissection of the clinical significance around the efficacy of the drug under discussion πŸ‘‡


Context with PICO not yet consolidated: 





5) General medical knowledge centered UDLCO sample : 


Contribution of  Anatomy dissection and autopsies to growth of Medical knowledge and Organ transplantation--



Benhur effect and the horcrux EHR: