A 44-year-old African American woman presented to the emergency department with constipation of 4 days' duration. She also complained of a sticking sensation in her throat over the past year and dysphagia to solids but not liquids. Over the past 2 years, she had an unintentional 40-lb weight loss, which she attributed to decreased appetite.

An 11-month-old infant was referred by his pediatrician for possible surgical correction of a bilateral entropion. The mother stated that her son's lashes appear to turn in on occasion; however, he never rubbed his eyes, the eyes were not red, and no discharge or drainage was noted.

Five days after starting aspirin and warfarin with an enoxaparin bridge for new-onset atrial fibrillation, a 92-year-old man presented with abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. The patient appeared ill and was tachycardic. He had dry mucous membranes; pale sclerae; diminished bowel sounds; and a large, tender left lower abdominal mass. Hematocrit was 22% (baseline, 39%); hemoglobin, 6.8 g/dL; blood urea nitrogen, 65 mg/dL; and creatinine, 3.2 mg/dL (baseline, 1.3 mg/dL). His "pre-renal" ratio was 20. These findings were consistent with bleeding and acute renal failure. He also had a supratherapeutic international normalized ratio (INR) of 4.1.

Alopecia was noted on the right anterior scalp of a 53-year-old man who had been hospitalized for jaundice of 2 weeks' duration. The hairs in the affected area were broken off at various lengths.

To what do you attribute symptoms of rash and fever in: a man with type 2 diabetes; a woman with systemic lupus erythematosus; a previously healthy girl.

An 82-year-old man presents with shoulder pain resulting from a fall the day before. He has had intermittent episodes of light-headedness, chest pain, and "flutterings in the chest" over the past week--including one this morning. Episodes last about 2 hours and resolve spontaneously. He denies any loss of consciousness, weakness, or worsening of symptoms with exertion. He also denies headache, abdominal pain, and other injuries. His medical history includes coronary artery disease (treated with bypass grafting 10 years earlier); prostate cancer; and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, for which he is receiving chemotherapy.

An 82-year-old man presents with shoulder pain resulting from a fall the day before. He has had intermittent episodes of light-headedness, chest pain, and "flutterings in the chest" over the past week--including one this morning.

Three case studies of patients with fever and rash challenge you to distinguish infectious from other causes and serious from non-threatening.

TORONTO -- If all women of child-bearing age took a daily dose of folic-acid fortified multivitamins, they would sharply reduce the risk of several major birth defects, researchers here concluded.

BOSTON -- Concerns that immune-modifying anti-arthritis drugs could increase the risk of malignancies may be unfounded, according to a review of U.S. and Canadian databases.

SENDAI, Japan -- Clues to the cause of sometimes fatal crescentic glomerulonephritis, and a possible therapeutic target, may have been uncovered by a mutation in a strain of experimental mice.

BETHESDA, Md. -- In two men with advanced melanoma, genetically altered T-cells wiped out their cancer, leaving them disease-free 18 months after treatment, researchers here said, but the therapy did not work in 15 other patients.

BOSTON -- Celebrex (celecoxib) can prevent sporadic colorectal adenomas, as well as reduce post-polypectomy recurrences, but these pluses may be outweighed by cardiovascular minuses.

WASHINGTON -- Plates groaning with food, a society that discourages walking, and long hours of working and commuting are all conspiring to make Americans obese, according to a report released by a non-profit group.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Symptomatic delay of benign prostatic hyperplasia may be a serendipitous benefit of the daily use of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, according to investigators here.

BOSTON -- For patients with tunnel vision, a device that incorporates a camera, computer, and transparent head-mounted display may help them find objects outside their field of vision.

BALTIMORE -- A genome-wide analysis has found 51 genetic regions that appear to be linked to alcoholism, including genes involved in cell signaling, gene regulation, and development, among other things.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) may help surgeons aggressively walk the fine line between how much brain tumor to resect without excessive damage to a patient's quality of life, researchers said.

This special report from Zach Wise, a MedPageToday contributing photographer, presents the sights and sounds of New Orleans medicine a year after Hurricane Katrina.

NEW ORLEANS -- A year after Katrina's winds and surging waters destroyed much of this city, New Orleans' health care system is still at sea.