Der Internist
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The acute porphyrias are a group of four metabolic defects in which the heme synthesis in the liver is disrupted. They are characterized by massively painful acute attacks, which can be life-threatening if not diagnosed. To raise the awareness for these rare disorders, a heme molecule in cartoon style is introduced, which accurately explains the basic biochemical processes in the body and mediates important information on the acute hepatic porphyrias in a simplified and attractive way. The article is complemented by a case report.
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This article presents the case of a 28-year-old male patient with a renal infarction due to an embolizing traumatic postdissection aneurysm of a renal segmental artery. He presented with abdominal and flank pain 1.5 years after a motorcycle accident. ⋯ Other causes of renal infarction were excluded. After an interdisciplinary discussion we decided to use interventional coiling in this young and athletically active patient in order to avoid long-term anticoagulation.