Here is a common clinical scenario. Your patient was admitted to the hospital with an acute myocardial infarction (MI). Intervention has been successful, and the patient's condition is now stable. The cardiologist is concerned about the patient's hemoglobin value of 9 g/dL. Active bleeding, hemolysis, and other potential causes of anemia (iron or vitamin B12 deficiency, for example) have been excluded. The decision is made to transfuse to raise the hemoglobin level above 10 g/dL.
My patient is a 52-year-old woman who is premenopausal but who experiences dyspareunia as a result of vaginal dryness. She has tried over-the-counter lubricants, but they have not relieved her symptoms. She takes warfarin, 5 mg qod/7 mg qod, to prevent recurrent deep venous thrombosis (DVT). Her first DVT was in 1978 and was associated with the use of an oral contraceptive. Is low-dose vaginal estrogen cream a safe option for this patient?
Q:My patient is a 66-year-old man with long-standing hypertension and atherosclerotic heart disease. During a recent coronary arteriogram, the cardiologist performed renal artery screening, which revealed a left renal artery stenosis. Renal artery angioplasty and stenting were recommended. Is this appropriate?
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)-histologically defined as stromal and epithelial hyperplasia beginning in the periurethral transitional zone of the prostate-affects up to 80% of 80-year-old men.[1,2] With progressive prostatic enlargement, bladder outlet obstruction can result. Although the exact mechanism is unknown, lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) can signal progressive BPH.
Silent myocardial ischemia (SMI)- objective documented ischemia in the absence of chest discomfort or other anginal equivalents-is a major component of the total ischemic burden for patients with ischemic heart disease.1 In the United States, an estimated 2 to 3 million persons with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) have evidence of silent ischemia. 2
An 89-year-old woman is seen because of a white area on the tongue. She has been hospitalized on a behavioral health unit for 2 weeks; 1 day ago, enoxaparin was begun for a new left leg deep venous thrombosis. Recent antibiotic therapy for a urinary tract infection; candidal vulvitis followed and was treated with topical clotrimazole. Has penicillin allergy.
A 93-year-old man with known Alzheimer dementia has his admission physical examination on transfer to a geropsychiatric hospital unit due to behavioral difficulties. A language barrier and his stoicism minimize communication, but his devoted wife translates and recounts that he is not in any physical discomfort. Has sometimes needed oxygen treatment in the past.
Now that baby boomers have reached the age of Medicare eligibility, joint replacements are on the rise. Because patients who undergo hip or knee arthroplasty require anticoagulation, primary care physicians have a key role in the care of these persons- before as well as after surgery.
It can be difficult to determine whether unusual, paroxysmal behavior represents a seizure or a nonepileptic event. Patients with sudden flailing movements or unresponsive staring may, in fact, be experiencing psychogenic events. Other types of pathological spells, such as syncope and migraine, can also be mistaken for epileptic seizures.
An 84-year-old Ethiopian woman presented with tender, violaceous, nonblanching nodules that had coalesced into plaques on the soles of both of her feet over the past 3 months. Similar discrete nodules were found on the dorsal aspect of her right wrist.
A 46-year-old man with AIDS (CD4+ cell count, 150/μL) presented with a painful nodular lesion on the plantar surface of his right foot. The lesion had appeared 1 month earlier as a painless, 1-cm, raised, reddish purple nodule and had progressively enlarged to 5 cm. Six months earlier, the patient had cryosurgery to remove a similar, larger lesion on the posterior aspect of his right midcalf.
A 49-year-old man presented to the emergency department (ED) with substernal chest pain that had started an hour earlier. The pain radiated to the left arm, was constant, and was associated with diaphoresis, nausea, and dyspnea. A similar episode 4 days earlier had spontaneously resolved. He denied fever or chills, pleuritic chest pain, vomiting, and diarrhea.
What should be added to the regimen of a patient with type 2 diabetes mellitus when initial oral therapy no longer adequately controls glucose levels?
Selecting the most effective stroke prevention strategy for patients with cerebrovascular disease is an acknowledged challenge. In addition to decisions about the appropriateness of carotid surgery or angioplasty and stenting, there is the often tricky matter of designing the most effective medical regimen.
Selecting the most effective stroke prevention strategy for patients with cerebrovascular disease can be challenging.
A 25-year-old woman presents for a prenatal visit. She has an unremarkable medical history except for hypermobility of the joints and a tendency to bruise easily. Her mother and sister also have very lax joints.
A 92-year-old woman presents with sharp abdominal pain of 1 day's duration, accompanied by 1 episode of emesis. The pain is neither relieved nor exacerbated by food ingestion.
A 27-year-old woman with hypertension, type 1 diabetes mellitus, and end-stage renal disease presents to an outpatient renal clinic complaining of generalized weakness. She missed her last dialysis session 2 days earlier.
Survivors of childhood cancer frequently present to primary care practitioners for a routine physical examination or for urgent care. Knowledge of the patient's cancer history and of the specifics of the treatment are essential to providing proper care and addressing his or her unique risks.
The morning after an 88-year-old woman with symptomatic second-degree type I (Wenckebach) atrioventricular block underwent placement of a dual chamber pacemaker without complication, she awoke with uncomfortable pulsations in her abdomen. The pacing thresholds and impedance had remained unchanged since implantation.
My patient is a man in his early 70s who complains of lack of strength. His testosterone level is low, and his B12 level is low-normal.
At what blood pressure is it prudent to treat newly diagnosed hypertension with 2 antihypertensive agents, and what criteria should guide selection of the 2 drugs?
Two days before a 72-year-old woman is admitted to the cardiac care unit (CCU), she had substernal discomfort she described as "heartburn," accompanied by episodes of nausea and vomiting. She attributed her symptoms to GI upset.
A 65-year-old woman with a history of alcohol abuse, hospitalized because of acute pancreatitis, had had petechial hemorrhages on her legs for the past 3 months.
Under what circumstances is it worthwhile to measure aldosterone levels in hypertensive patients? An increasing number of cardiovascular risk factors are being packaged into individual "epidemics."
