[28-year-old patient with iron deficiency anemia]

We report the case of a 28-years-old woman with Turner's syndrome and iron deficiency anaemia. The faecal occult blood test was intermittently positive whereas earlier upper and lower endoscopy revealed no source of bleeding. Capsule endoscopy showed multiple vascular malformations on the jejunum and ileum. Our case report emphasizes the importance of capsule endoscopy in the localising occult bleedings in the small bowel. We discuss the different diagnostic modalities and possible treatments.

[Consequences of an accidental aspiration of petroleum in a case of a fire eating man]

Fire-eater's pneumonitis, caused by aspiration of petroleum, is an infrequent clinical problem in our region. It is an acute inflammatory response of the lungs to the accidental aspiration of hydrocarbons, as shown in our patient. Despite the severe initial clinical und radiological presentation, fire-eater's pneumonitis usually shows a favourable evolution with "restitutio ad integrum". Acute mortality rate is less than 1%. Fire-eater's lung is a medical emergency and needs medical support and surveillance. There is no good evidence that systemic cortico-steroids and antibiotics are effective in the treatment of hydrocarbon aspiration. Concerning chronic lung injury after fire-eater's pneumonitis, there are favorable results from short observational series.

Tracheobronchial amyloidosis--bronchoscopic diagnosis and therapy of an uncommon disease: a case report

We report on a 65-year-old female who complained of recurrent bronchopulmonary infections since 1999. She suffered from permanent cough and progressive dyspnea. The diagnosis of amyloidosis was made by bronchoscopic tissue biopsies, during which severe bleeding occurred. Argon-plasma-laser treatment stopped the bleeding and resulted in a successful recanalization of the left main bronchus. The patient noticed a decrease in dyspnea shortly after the intervention. Further diagnostic procedures did not show any signs of systemic or malignant disease. This led us to the diagnosis of a rare form of isolated tracheobronchial amyloidosis.