A 76-year-old woman had a 40-year history of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). She had repeatedly refused treatment with disease-modifying drugs, including methotrexate. Nodules began to develop 15 years after the initial diagnosis; they recurred after surgical removal.
For 2 months, a 31-year-old woman had had dyspnea anddull, continuous retrosternal pain. She was admitted to thehospital, and a helical CT scan of the thorax identified asaddle pulmonary embolism. An ultrasonogram revealeddeep venous thrombosis (DVT) in the left leg. Intravenousheparin was given; the patient was discharged,and warfarin was prescribed.
The past several years have witnessedimportant advances in the evaluationand management of chronic heart failure(HF). Drugs such as β-blockersand spironolactone have been shownto reduce morbidity and mortality, andstrategies that employ new devices,such as pacing and defibrillator therapy,are evolving. This has promptedthe American College of Cardiology(ACC)/American Heart Association(AHA) to update guidelines first publishedin 1995.1 The guidelines highlightthe importance of early and accuraterecognition of the clinical syndromeof chronic HF and offer anoutline for evidence-based therapeuticdecision making.
A 65-year-old woman with metastatic adenocarcinoma of the colon was undergoing chemotherapy following a colectomy and a hepatic wedge resection. The physical examination and laboratory data were unremarkable.
