Month: March 2018

PAINE #PANCE Pearl – Oncology

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Question

 

27yo male, with stage II Hodgkin’s lymphoma, presents to his oncologists’s office for 6-week follow-up s/p 4 cycles of ABVD chemotherapy.  He reports malaise and fatigue, but is otherwise in good spirits.  Vitals show:

  • BP – 122/72 mmHg
  • HR – 96 bpm
  • RR – 15 bpm
  • O2% – 100% on room air
  • Temperature – 38.5oC (101.4oF)

 

Labs in the office are below:

Answer

 

This patient has a neutropenic fever.  This is an oncologic emergency because their immune systems has been completely destroyed by the chemotherapy and they are unable to mount an appropriate response to the infectious insult. In order to determine if a patient is neutropenic, you must calculate an Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC).

MD Calc Link

Neutropenia =  ANC < 1500

 

Ep-PAINE-nym

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Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

 

Other Known Aliases – none

 

Definition – Type of lymphoma predominantly from lymphocytes that arise from germinal center or post-germinal center of B cells

 

Clinical Significance – Accounts for 10% of all lymphomas and 0.6% of all cancers.  It is also associated with a bimodal age distribution of young adults (20s) and older adults (60s), with a slight male predominance.  Epstein-Barr virus is the most common causative agent and it carries a favorable prognosis.

 

History – Named after Thomas Hodgkin (1798-1866), who was British physician and considered one of the most prominent pathologists of his time.  He was also a perpetual student constantly learning new techniques including being an early adopter of the stethoscope anda fervent advocate for preventative medicine.  He first described his findings on his eponymous disease in 1832, but it wasn’t until 33 years later when another British physician, Samuel Wilks, “re-discovered” the disease and Hodgkin’s work did it gain any traction and recognition.

 

Thomas Hodgkin photo.jpg

 

References

  1. Firkin BG and Whitwirth JA.  Dictionary of Medical Eponyms. 2nd ed.  New York, NY; Parthenon Publishing Group. 1996.
  2. Bartolucci S, Forbis P.  Stedman’s Medical Eponyms.  2nd ed.  Baltimore, MD; LWW.  2005.
  3. Yee AJ, Pfiffner P. (2012).  Medical Eponyms (Version 1.4.2) [Mobile Application Software].  Retrieved http://itunes.apple.com.
  4. Whonamedit – dictionary of medical eponyms. http://www.whonamedit.com
  5. Hodgkin Lymphome.  British Medical Journal – Best Practice. http://bestpractice.bmj.com/topics/en-us/311
  6. Hodgkin T.  On Some Morbid Appearances of The Absorbent Glands and Spleen.  Med Chir Trans.  1832;17:68-114.

PAINE #PANCE Pearl – Oncology

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27yo male, with stage II Hodgkin’s lymphoma, presents to his oncologists’s office for 6-week follow-up s/p 4 cycles of ABVD chemotherapy.  He reports malaise and fatigue, but is otherwise in good spirits.  Vitals show:

  • BP – 122/72 mmHg
  • HR – 96 bpm
  • RR – 15 bpm
  • O2% – 100% on room air
  • Temperature – 38.5oC (101.4oF)

 

Labs in the office are below:

 

Ep-PAINE-nym

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Auer Rods

 

Other Known Aliases – none

 

Definition – Auer rods are azurophilic granules found in the cytoplasm of leukemic blast cells and are composed of fused lyosomes.

 

Image result for auer rods

 

Clinical Significance – These are found in high grade myelodysplastic and myeloproliferative syndromes and are pathognomonic for acute myelogenous leukemia (AML).

 

Image result for auer rods

 

History – Named after John Auer (1875-1948), an American physiologist and pharmacologist, who held appointments at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, and the St. Louis School of Medicine. He first described these structures in a 21yo male who was suffering from a sore throat and nosebleed and admitted to Sir William Osler’s service for work-up.  He published this finding in 1906, but were first described by a colleague of his at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Thomas McCrae.  Interestingly, they both erroneously thought that the cells containing these structures were lymphoblasts, not myeloblasts.

 

Image result for john auer rods

scanned image of page 404

References

  1. Firkin BG and Whitwirth JA.  Dictionary of Medical Eponyms. 2nd ed.  New York, NY; Parthenon Publishing Group. 1996.
  2. Bartolucci S, Forbis P.  Stedman’s Medical Eponyms.  2nd ed.  Baltimore, MD; LWW.  2005.
  3. Yee AJ, Pfiffner P. (2012).  Medical Eponyms (Version 1.4.2) [Mobile Application Software].  Retrieved http://itunes.apple.com.
  4. Whonamedit – dictionary of medical eponyms. http://www.whonamedit.com
  5. Gordon SW, Krystal GW. Auer Rods. NEJM. 2017; 376(21):2065. [pubmed]
  6. Auer J. Some hitherto Undescribed Structures Found in the Large Lymphocytes of a Case of Acute Leukemia. AJMS. 1906;131(6):1002-1014 [article]
  7. McCrae T. Acute Lymphatic Leukemia, with Report of Five Cases. BMJ. 1905; 1(2304):404-8. [pubmed]
  8. John Auer. http://www.iqb.es/historiamedicina/personas/auer.htm