Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31890364›Full record

ArticleCureus2019

Sternoclavicular Joint Septic Arthritis and Anterior Mediastinal Mass in a Young Athlete: Possible Immune-modulatory Effect of Growth Hormone.

Tahir Muhammad Abdullah Khan, Abdul Hasan Siddiqui, Yusra Ansari, Saad Ali Ansari, Faraz Siddiqui

Open access · diamondAbstract readCase Reports
In one paragraph

Article in Cureus, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 40% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Tahir Muhammad Abdullah KhanInternal Medicine, Marshfield Medical Center, Marshfield, USA.
Abdul Hasan SiddiquiPulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Staten Island University Hospital / Northwell Health, Staten Island, USA.
Yusra AnsariInternal Medicine, Rawalpindi Medical College, Rawalpindi, PAK.
Saad Ali AnsariInternal Medicine, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, PAK.
Faraz SiddiquiPulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Robert Packer Hospital, Sayre, USA.
Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital · USPakistan Institute of Medical Sciences · PKRawalpindi Medical University · PKSUNY Upstate Medical University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Septic arthritis of sternoclavicular joint (SCJ) is a rare disease, however, not uncommon in patients who abuse intravenous drugs. It can present with a wide range of manifestations that can pose diagnostic challenges, which can result in a delay in diagnosis and treatment. Over the last few decades, there is a surge in the use of nonprescription recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) by the young healthy population and athletes for its purported ergogenic effects. Furthermore, we lack quantitative information about the adverse effects of the chronic use of rhGH in a healthy population due to the scarcity of epidemiological data. We are reporting a case of a young male athlete who was chronically using the subcutaneous rhGH formulation to build lean body mass, and presented with septic arthritis of right SCJ due to methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) complicated by a necrotic inflammatory response involving the mediastinum which infiltrated the apical lung parenchyma. The clinical presentation masqueraded as the mediastinal mass raising the suspicion of mediastinal malignancy. Histological analysis of the tissue of SCJ and mediastinal area revealed no malignant cells but a lymphocyte-predominant inflammatory response with germinal centers was observed, which was an atypical response to MSSA bacterial infection. We have reviewed the literature to elucidate the immune-modulatory effect of rhGH, as the chronic use of rhGH by our patient probably has contributed to an atypical immune response to MSSA. The patient was treated with an extended duration of parenteral antibiotics and multiple incision and debridements to achieve complete resolution of infection over the next six months. This is a unique case of septic arthritis of right SCJ in a patient on chronic subcutaneous rhGH which masqueraded as a mediastinal mass raising concern of malignancy; moreover, it highlights the probable immune-modulatory role of rhGH which instigated an atypical immune response to MSSA infection.

Indexed as

drug abusegrowth hormoneimmune modulationmediastinal massmethicillin sensitive staphylococcus aureusseptic arthritissternoclavicular joint

Identifiers

PMID31890364
PMCPMC6913913
OpenAlexW2989547060

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.