May 2019
27 ArticlesNo Section
Spontaneous pneumomediastinum presententing as nasal voice
We present a case of spontaneous pneumomediastinum in a person with hypoxemia and dyspnea caused by vigorous cough. The entity of spontaneous pneumomediastinum is unfamiliar and is considered rare.... more
A refractory bicytopenia in a pregnant woman
A 24-year-old woman was referred to our hospital for an anaemia with thrombocytopenia worsening since 3 months at 36 amenorrhoea weeks of her first pregnancy. She had no significant past medical... more
Predictors of mortality of bloodstream infections among internal medicine patients in a Swiss Hospital: Role of quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment
Sepsis has been associated with high morbidity and mortality. The aims were to determine predictors of mortality among patients with bloodstream infections (BSIs) and to ascertain the role of quick... more
An unusual cause of ventricular tachycardia
A 64-year old male presented for chest pain. His medical history included arterial hypertension, diabetes and a familial history of sudden cardiac death. Four weeks before he received a surgical... more
Hereditary angioedema, emergency management of attacks by a call center
Hereditary angiœdema (HAE) is a rare autosomal dominant disease characterized by recurrent, unpredictable, potentially life-threatening swelling. Objective is to assess the management of the acute... more
Burning red hot feet
A man in his fifties presented with 1-year history of burning sensation and pain in both feet with dusky erythema on both dorsal feet and soles with no associated systemic complaint. Cutaneous... more
Clinical Insights
And now we have the AUGUSTUS … How will it impact on antithrombotic therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention?
Optimal antithrombotic therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention with stent (PCI) should consist of both oral anticoagulation (OAC) and... more
Commentary
Navigating the treacherous waters of antithrombotic therapies in patients with atrial fibrillation and coronary artery disease: Lessons from AUGUSTUS
Determining the optimal antithrombotic regimen to prevent ischemic events and bleeding presents a challenge to cardiologists in managing their patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) who experience an... more
Internal Medicine Flashcard
Multimodality imaging of aortopulmonary paraganglioma
A 72-years old woman was admitted to our department for a long lasting (3-hours) thoracic pain episode and increasing palpitations during the last month. At admission clinical examination was... more
Sparse pustules and tenosynovitis in a young man
A man in his 37 s consulted about a two-day-history of pustules on his both hands (Fig. 1A-C) and his right elbow (Fig. 1D). He complained also about edema, polyarthralgia with asymmetric small joint... more
Letter to the Editor
Author's Reply: Issues regarding ambulatory blood pressure measurement in severely obese population: The guilty upper-arm' Item cover sheet has been updated accordingly
Leblanc et al. are correct to note that using inappropriate cuff size and shape for blood pressure (BP) measurements, may lead to measurement error, especially in population of obese patients [1]. In... more
Pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension incidence in Latvia in 2018
Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a heterogeneous group of disorders that can be classified according to clinical, hemodynamic and pathological findings and the prognosis of each group differs... more
A robust tool for recording pharmacist's interventions in a low-resource setting
Yailian et al., [1] describe the medical and pharmaceutical staff perspectives of pharmacist's interventions in a clinical rheumatology setting in France. Interventions were classified according to a... more
Narrative Review
New oncologic emergencies: What is there to know about inmunotherapy and its potential side effects?
Over the last decade anticancer treatment has experienced encouraging changes. One of the latest developments is immunotherapy, which is increasingly becoming a mainstay for the treatment of these... more
Original Article
Associations between patient and system characteristics and MET review within 48 h of admission to a teaching hospital: A retrospective cohort study
The Medical Emergency Team (MET) has enhanced the recognition and response to clinical deterioration in acute healthcare. However, patients reviewed by the MET are at increased risk of in-hospital... more
Delirium in patients with dementia and in children: Overlap of symptoms profile and possible role for future diagnosis
Delirium in the extremes of the age spectrum may show similarities in presentations, and these similarities may provide information to develop tools for the diagnosis of delirium superimposed on... more
CD5/CD20 expression on circulating B cells in HCV-related chronic hepatitis and mixed cryoglobulinemia
The role of CD5+ B cells in patients with HCV infection and HCV-related disorders, including mixed cryoglobulinemia (MC), has been addressed in previous reports with conflicting results. We... more
Body mass index as a driver of selection of biologic therapy in rheumatoid arthritis. Results from the US-CLARA study
Body mass index (BMI) demonstrated to influence the clinical response to different drugs in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of this study was to investigate the role of BMI in the achievement of... more
A quarter of admitted poisoned patients have a mild poisoning and require no treatment: An observational study
Poisoned patients are frequently admitted following Emergency Department (ED) presentation, while the necessity of such admissions is hardly investigated. We determined the proportion and... more
Prognosis after pacemaker implantation in extreme elderly
Significant comorbidities may limit the potential benefit of pacemaker (PM) implantation in extreme elderly. A short-term mortality risk prediction score, able to identify high-risk patients, may be... more
Drug–drug interactions involving CYP3A4 and p-glycoprotein in hospitalized elderly patients
Polypharmacy is very common in older patients and may be associated with drug-drug interactions. Hepatic cytochrome P450 (notably 3A4 subtype, CYP3A4) is a key enzyme which metabolizes most drugs; P-... more
Effect of risk of malnutrition on 30-day mortality among older patients with acute heart failure in Emergency Departments
Little is known about the prevalence and impact of risk of malnutrition on short-term mortality among seniors presenting with acute heart failure (AHF) in emergency setting. The objective was to... more
Plasma level of soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) predicts long-term mortality after first acute alcohol-induced pancreatitis
Soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) is a biomarker associated with inflammatory and certain malignancies. Earlier we have shown that plasma suPAR (P-suPAR) predicts severity of... more
Predictive value of serum myostatin for the severity and clinical outcome of heart failure
The exact relationship between serum myostatin and the severity and prognosis of chronic heart failure (CHF) is unclear. In this study, we investigated the association between serum myostatin and the... more
Intermediate-risk pulmonary embolism: Aiming to improve patient stratification
Intermediate-risk pulmonary embolism (PE) patients present a therapeutic dilemma. While some are at risk for developing adverse events, possibly requiring escalation therapy, most will have a benign... more
Review Article
Management of iron deficiency in chronic heart failure: Practical considerations for clinical use and future directions
Heart Failure (HF) is a global pandemic with rapidly increasing prevalence. In an attempt to maintain patients well being, the therapeutic interest has expanded to the vicious cycles that confer to... more
Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled clinical trial evidence refutes relationship between pharmacotherapy with angiotensin-receptor blockers and an increased risk of cancer
The potential influence of angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs) on carcinogenesis is a much-debated topic. Both observational, as well as preclinical studies in rodent carcinogenic assays, suggest a... more