This report presents 2 patients who were diagnosed to have acute stress disorder (ASD), received early psychiatric intervention (crisis intervention as a short-term psychotherapy), and subsequently had good outcome. Encounter with an event that causes psychological trauma may induce post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, the 2 patients described here have shown no particular mental symptoms for more than 2 years after the event and are leading normal lives. Psychological debriefing as a group used to be regarded as effective for the prevention of PTSD, but early identification of the stress-related disorder and intensive treatment of individual patients is recently considered to be more necessary. Both of the 2 patients presented here showed good outcome, and early crisis intervention in individual patients is suggested to be effective for the treatment of stress-related disorders and prevention of PTSD.
Hypercalcemia in malignant lymphoma is not common. Our case of malignant lymphoma with multiple bony lesions showed hypercalcemia (13 mg/dl) at the time of bone marrow relapse. The serum level of parathyroid hormone-related peptide increased to 142 pmol/l, which may be secreted by malignant lymphoma cells. The course of the patient was aggressive and she died from bone marrow relapse after 6 months of treatment including high-dose methotrexate, which caused acute nonoliguric renal failure. At autopsy there was extensive calcium deposition in the lungs, kidneys and pancreas and prominent tubular damage of kidneys.