Table of Contents
1-Minute Consult
Should a hospital without a neurologist use t-PA to treat stroke?Any hospital contemplating using t-PA to treat acute ischemic stroke should draw up a plan whereby this drug can be given promptly but safely.
IM Board Review
- A 43-year-old woman with shortness of breath
What is the likely cause of this patient’s symptoms? A self-test on a clinical case.
Medical Grand Rounds
- The threat of bioterrorism: A reason to learn more about anthrax and smallpox
Both smallpox and anthrax could be used as biological weapons. Physicians should reacquaint themselves with these diseases.
Issues in Medicine
- How physicians can help create useful clinical practice guidelines
A team-based strategy for creating guidelines that physicians will accept and use.
Interpreting Key Trials
- Hormone replacement and breast cancer: Implications of the Iowa Women’s Health Study
A recent study does not resolve the controversy about whether hormone replacement therapy causes breast cancer, but it gives us another reason for cautious optimism that this therapy is safe.
Update on Acute Coronary Syndromes
- Aspirin, ticlopidine, and clopidogrel in acute coronary syndromes: Underused treatments could save thousands of lives
Aspirin is the cornerstone of therapy for unstable angina and acute myocardial infarction. Yet, in spite of clear data, it is often not given or given late. An accompanying illustration shows how antiplatelet drugs block the cascade of platelet aggregation.
Cancer Diagnosis and Management
- Early recognition of spinal cord compression in cancer patients
The only way to preserve ambulatory function in patients with spinal cord compression due to spinal metastases is to recognize and treat it early, while the patient can still walk.
