December 2022
Commentary
Moving forward with point-of-care ultrasound: An (early) educational effort can (also) strengthen research
The growing availability of portable ultrasound equipment, associated with the rapidity of execution and the perceived benefit on diagnostic accuracy and time-to-diagnosis, has led to an exponential... more
Corrigendum
Corrigendum to ‘External validation of risk scores to predict in-hospital mortality in patients hospitalized due to coronavirus disease 2019’
The authors regret that the Appendix was missing as supplementary material with the above publication. The Appendix is now published online with this corrigendum.
Guidelines
Community-acquired pneumonia – An EFIM guideline critical appraisal adaptation for internists
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is defined as an acute infection of the pulmonary parenchyma acquired outside the hospital and, is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality... more
Internal Medicine Flashcard
A woman with purple-brown skin lesions after immunosuppressive therapy
An 80-year-old Greek woman presented to our clinic with fatigue and new-onset skin lesions around her neck, enlarging and multiplying over the previous 6 weeks. The lesions were asymptomatic but had... more
A « tipical » but rare cause of neck pain
A 34-year-old man with medical history of familial deafness presented to the emergency department for an acute left cervicalgia and painful jaw for one week. He reported a context of recent physical... more
Not always “straight ahead” – A surprising cause of acute kidney injury
A 16-year-old girl presented with a complaint of vomiting and abdominal pain, which appreared immediately following hair straightening treatment. Her medical history was remarkable for untreated... more
Letter to the Editor
Persistent FDG uptake in large vessels and risk of relapse in giant cell arteritis
Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a large vessel vasculitis that typically involves the extracranial branches of the aorta [1]. Steroids and anti-IL6 are highly effective in obtaining remission but the... more
Chronological aspects of atrial fibrillation after myocardial infarction
Dear editor,
Health differences between adults with and without intellectual disabilities at the internal medicine department: A first step to improve awareness of intellectual disabilities among healthcare professionals
Dear editor,
Pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension incidence in Latvia in 2021 according to the new definition
Pulmonary hypertension is a progressive disease that is classified into 5 clinical subgroups, leading to the right ventricular failure and high mortality. The 6th World Symposium on Pulmonary... more
Efficacy and safety of Mavacamten: A new era in the treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a condition in which the myocardium is hypertrophied. HCM is the most common genetic cardiovascular disease and the most common cause of death in young adults [1... more
Atrial remodeling predicts the first cardiovascular diseases hospitalization in patients with type II diabetes mellitus
Atrial cardiomyopathy (ACM) is a dynamic process, characterized by progressive structural, architectural, contractile, and/or electrophysiological remodeling that affects the atria [1]. ACM is... more
The positive impact of coronary computed tomography angiography-based strategies on the clinical outcomes of patients with diabetes mellitus
Coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) screening for coronary artery disease (CAD) is an indispensable diagnostic tool in clinical practice because of its excellent negative predictive value... more
In COVID-19 patients with mild or moderate respiratory failure, duration and type of symptoms influence the diagnostic accuracy of lung ultrasound
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has placed considerable pressure on healthcare systems worldwide, forcing hospitals to implement strict infection control measures aimed at isolating all suspected cases. To... more
Publication and citation inequalities faced by African researchers
The study of discrimination in research focused primarily on gender inequalities [1,2], and programs were launched in many countries to increase representation of women in key-positions and improve... more
Is the benefit of sodium-glucose cotransporter inhibitors over heart failure progression on the kidney side?
Dear Editor,
Gastrointestinal adverse events of semaglutide in patients with overweight or obesity
Semaglutide is a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) and is a well-established, safe, and effective treatment for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with favorable effects on glycemic... more
A reappraisal of corticosteroids use for COVID-19
The current evidence suggests that the rapid clinical progression of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is... more
Original Article
Angiopoietins, vascular endothelial growth factors and secretory phospholipase A2 in heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction
Heart failure (HF) represents a growing public health burden with an estimated prevalence in Europe and United States ranging from 0.4% to 2% [1]. According to the 2021 European Society of Cardiology... more
Short versus long course therapy in the treatment of febrile urinary tract infections in men based on serum PSA values
The incidence of urinary tract infections (UTIs) varies with sex, age and predisposing conditions. UTI more frequently afflicts women than men at all ages, except in the first year of life [1].
Etiological spectrum and outcome of fever and inflammation of unknown origin. Does symptom duration matter?
Evidence suggests that the symptom duration may affect the occurrence of certain fever (FUO) and inflammation (IUO) of unknown origin associated conditions. It is unclear if this could potentially... more
Functional and metabolic frailty predicts mortality in patients undergoing TAVI: Insights from the OBSERVANT II study
Frailty is defined as a decrease of physiologic reserve and ability to maintain homeostasis leading to an increased vulnerability to adverse events [1]. Frailty is prevalent among elderly subjects... more
Proton pump inhibitors and the risk of cardiovascular events and cardiovascular mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies
Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are widely used to treat disorders characterized by excessive gastric acid production [1] and have been sold over-the-counter for more than one decade. Alongside, PPIs... more
High cardiovascular disease risk-associated with the incidence of Type 2 diabetes among prediabetics
Prediabetes, a state with a higher chance of developing diabetes, is a condition characterized by elevated blood glucose levels above the normal range but below the diabetes threshold. As a result,... more
Genetic testing in autoinflammatory diseases – past, current and future perspectives
Autoinflammatory diseases (AIDs) or hereditary recurrent fevers (HRFs) are a group of rare and mostly monogenic illnesses with mendelian heredity. They are caused by a class IV or class V gene... more
Association of lipoprotein(a) with all-cause and cause-specific mortality: A prospective cohort study
Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] was first discovered by Norwegian geneticist Berg in 1963 in the Nordic population [1]. Subsequently, it was proved to be a plasma lipoprotein determined by genes, consisting... more
Review Article
Acute aortic syndromes: An internist's guide to the galaxy
Acute aortic syndromes (AASs) are diseases involving the thoracic aorta, with variable involvement of the abdominal aorta and the main aortic branches, sharing common etiological, pathophysiological... more
Optimization of antimicrobial prescription in the hospital
Many obstacles in antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) are shared across high-income countries (HICs) and low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Some of the issues raised in a workshop by the American... more
POCUS in dyspnea, nontraumatic hypotension, and shock; a systematic review of existing evidence
Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is defined as the integration of ultrasound imaging into the physical examination by the treating physician. It has shown to speed up the diagnostic process, and to... more