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Most primary care practitioners approach the patient who complains of dizziness with some trepidation. This is chiefly because the differential diagnosis involves multiple organ systems and a wide variety of disorders. In this article, I offer a rational, straightforward, and cost-effective approach that uses only minimal, selective diagnostic testing.

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A 43-year-old woman presented to the emergency department with a 4-day history of worsening erythema, swelling, and pruritus that developed on the face and progressed to the abdomen, back, and lower legs. In the past 2 to 3 days, fluid-filled blisters had arisen, followed by skin sloughing; the patient also reported subjective fevers. Another physician had prescribed naproxen for back pain 6 days earlier. The patient had a history of asthma, with rare inhaler use, and depression, for which she had taken citalopram for 2 years.

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The sudden onset of a petechial rashon the upper and lower extremities,ecchymosis of the tongue, and anepisode of epistaxis prompted a78-year-old woman to seek medicalevaluation. She reported having takenone of her husband’s quinine pills aday earlier to alleviate leg cramps.The patient was otherwise in goodhealth and took no other medications.

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An 83-year-old man with a history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diverticulosis was hospitalized because of painless hematochezia of 1 day's duration. Two years earlier, he had undergone surgical excision of a superficial spreading melanoma on his right thigh.

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ABSTRACT: Prevention of skin cancer requires photoprotection (eg, the use of a sunscreen with both UVB and UVA protection) and regular monitoring of the skin for suspicious lesions. Encourage patients to examine all areas of their skin, including the interdigital and genital regions, for unusual macules, papules, and nodules. Teach patients the "ABCDE" warning signs of melanoma (asymmetry, border irregularity, color variegation, diameter greater than 0.5 cm, evolving lesion). Office skin examinations are recommended for patients with risk factors for skin cancer and for those with obvious sun damage. Correct lighting, preferably daylight, and cross-illumination are crucial. Palpation may be helpful in detecting lesions such as actinic keratoses, which have a gritty, sandpaper-like surface.

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The decision to prescribe a statin to prevent ASCVD may require considering factors in addition to global CVD risk. A short case illustrates use of the CAC score.

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Hepatitis C virus is the leading indication for liver transplant in the US. Is it time for state-mandated HCV testing?

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A 17-year-old girl presented to the emergency department with abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, and diarrhea approximately 9 hours after swallowing 25 tablets (200 mg each) of iron sulfate in a suicide attempt. Her vital signs were within normal limits. She was mildly lethargic; stool was hemoccult-positive.

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Our goal here is to help you master the shoulder examination. We review the basics of the examination, and we evaluate emerging concepts in the diagnosis of the more common shoulder conditions.

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Shortly after arriving from Puerto Rico, a 59-year-old man presented with right-sided frontal head pain and decreased vision in his right eye. He was concerned about a “sore” that first developed 9 months earlier on his head. The patient denied fever, chills, and syncope.

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In 2001, 11 US residents contracted inhalation anthrax as a result of the deliberate mailing of 4 letters containing anthrax spores. Five died as a result. Several of these patients presented to physicians before becoming fatally ill, but their illness was misdiagnosed as influenza.1

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Over the past 2 decades, there has been an alarming increase in opportunistic fungal infections with an associated rise in morbidity and mortality. This trend has been attributed to the growing number of patients who are immunocompromised because of bone marrow or solid organ transplant, immunosuppressive drugs, AIDS, and hematological malignancies. Advances in trauma and critical care medicine that lead to longer survival of more patients with immunocompromising conditions also play a role.

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Atropy of the paravertebral musculature--the "spine sign"--in this 64-year-old man offers clues to the genesis of the coronary artery disease for which he had undergone a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) and to the cause of his severe post-CABG anterior chest pain.

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Palpitations and dizziness prompted a previously healthy 21-year-old cable lineman from southeastern Pennsylvania to seek medical attention. An ECG showed first-degree heart block. The young man was scheduled for outpatient cardiology consultation, but his symptoms worsened and he presented to an emergency department with chest pain and fever 2 days later. Further evaluation revealed that for the past 3 weeks he had myalgia; arthralgia; fatigue; and an expanding, erythematous, nonpruritic rash on his trunk and extremities. He did not recall any tick bites.

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ABSTRACT: Establishing the time of symptom onset is essential to selecting the appropriate therapy. Intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA), administered within 3 hours of symptom onset, is the only FDA-approved treatment for acute ischemic stroke. Intra-arterial and combined intra-arterial-intravenous thrombolytic therapy may be considered for patients whose condition does not improve or who present within 3 to 6 hours of symptom onset. Other options for treating acute ischemic stroke are balloon angioplasty with or without stenting (for symptomatic patients with more than 50% intracranial stenosis in whom medical therapy has failed) and mechanical clot retrieval (for those with an NIH Stroke Scale score greater than 10 who present after the 3-hour window for intravenous t-PA and can be treated within 8 hours of symptom onset or who present within 3 hours of symptom onset but in whom intravenous thrombolysis is contraindicated).

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ain management is a commonand challenging aspect of caringfor elderly patients. The principlesthat guide therapeutic pain managementin these persons are differentfrom those used in the treatmentof younger persons.

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Immunocompromised hosts are at high risk for opportunisticinfections caused by endemic fungi such as Cryptococcus,Histoplasma, and Coccidioides. Moulds other than Aspergillusalso are being implicated in opportunistic fungal infections inimmunocompromised patients. Infections attributed toZygomycetes and Fusarium and Scedosporium species are beingreported with increased frequency. Because infection with theseorganisms cannot be distinguished from aspergillosis onradiographic imaging or histological examination, culture isrequired to confirm the diagnosis. Therapeutic success mayhinge on correct identification of the infectious organism.

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Two weeks earlier, a 25-year-old woman had sustained a thermal burn to the right forearm. About 1 week after the injury, the eschar sloughed off and she applied an over-the-counter antibiotic ointment (neomycin) to the wound site.

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Research shows that pediatricians are at higher risk than other physician groups for financial loss as they transition to ICD-10. Here, 8 areas you can focus on now.

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An 89-year-old woman is seen for an erosion on the frontal area of the scalp. History is positive for actinic keratosis. What's your Dx?

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Abstract: Acute chest syndrome (ACS) is one of the most common causes of death and hospitalization among patients with a sickle hemoglobinopathy. The clinical presentation is characterized by the appearance of a new infiltrate on a chest radiograph, with 1 or more new symptoms, including fever, cough, chest pain, and dyspnea. Additional findings include leukocytosis, hypoxemia, and auscultatory signs of consolidation. The differential diagnosis includes pneumonia, pulmonary infarction, fat embolism syndrome, pulmonary edema, and bone infarction. Treatment of ACS involves supportive care, empiric antibiotic therapy, and red blood cell transfusion when indicated. The decision of whether to use simple or exchange transfusions depends on the severity of illness and the risk of acute respiratory failure. Currently, hydroxyurea is the only FDA-approved drug designated as a preventive therapy. (J Respir Dis. 2005;26(12):529-534)

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A 45-year-old man of Hispanic ancestry presents for evaluation of what he describes as a "growth in both eyes." This growth has been present for some time; however, it has recently become more prominent. The patient has had mild redness and irritation in both eyes, but he denies any change in vision.

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Two weeks before admission, he had visited the emergency department (ED) because of the headache. Migraine was diagnosed and ibuprofen had been prescribed. The headache persisted despite NSAID therapy, and the patient returned to the ED 2 days later.

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A 58-year-old man presents with exertionaldyspnea of 6 weeks’ duration, adry cough for 2 weeks, and decreasedappetite. He denies fever, chills, sputumproduction, hemoptysis, cigarette smoking,and significant weight loss. Thepatient, a retired electrician, was exposedto asbestos 20 years earlier.

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In the United States, it has been estimated that 7.8% of the total population has diabetes. In 2007, the direct medical expenditures for diabetes were about $116 billion and the total direct and indirect costs were $174 billion, according to the CDC.1