Erythromelalgia is a rare and very difficult to treat pain syndrome that usually presents as severe bilateral burning pain in the extremities. Here we present a case of a 34-year-old female with erythromelalgia who we treated successfully with a lumbar epidural infusion of ropivacaine and fentanyl. The patient had complete relief shortly after the epidural infusion, and she remained stable with only minor pain two weeks and nine months later. With this case, we have reviewed the interventional treatments of erythromelalgia. We suggest epidural infusion as the first line interventional management, followed by sympathetic block. Spinal cord stimulation can be considered if other interventional managements fail.
Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology •
The Oncology Grand Rounds series is designed to place original reports published in the Journal into clinical context. A case presentation is followed by a description of diagnostic and management challenges, a review of the relevant literature, and a summary of the authors' suggested management approaches. The goal of this series is to help readers better understand how to apply the results of key studies, including those published in Journal of Clinical Oncology, to patients seen in their own clinical practice. A 40-year-old woman with a past medical history of hypertension and occasional premature ventricular contractions was found on routine blood work in June 2011 to have mild thrombocytosis, with a platelet count of 405,000. In November 2011, repeat analysis revealed a platelet count of 433,000, and by February 2012 her platelet count was 509,000. She had no evidence of leukocytosis or anemia and no symptoms of early satiety, night sweats, pruritus, or erythromelalgia. She was referred to a hematologist for evaluation of persistent isolated thrombocytosis in March 2012. Her spleen was not palpable, and a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for JAK2/V617F was negative. A bone marrow biopsy and aspiration revealed a mildly hypercellular marrow (70% to 80% cellularity), with an elevated myeloid:erythroid ratio of 5:1, increased megakaryocytes including micromegakaryocytes in the absence of increased blasts. Cytogenetic analysis revealed the presence of the Philadelphia chromosome translocation in 17 out of 20 metaphases. The remaining three metaphases were normal karyotype. Quantitative PCR for BCR-ABL1 yielded a value of 29.6% on the International Scale.
