Table of Contents
From the Editor
- Passing the baton
Beginning next month, current deputy editor Brian Mandell, MD, PhD, will assume the role of editor-in-chief of the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine. I have enjoyed my tenure and look forward to continuing my association with the Journal.
Rapid Communication
- Coping with the influenza vaccine shortage
How to decide which patients to vaccinate and how to use antiviral drugs, in light of the vaccine shortage.
Review
- Benefits of more aggressive VTE prophylaxis in hospitalized medical patients
Most hospitalized medical patients who should be receiving anticoagulants to prevent VTE according to current guidelines are not getting them, or are receiving subtherapeutic doses.
Epidural steroids for back and leg pain: Mechanism of action and efficacyEpidural steroid injections may relieve the patient’s pain while healing occurs. Who should receive this therapy, and what kind of benefit can they reasonably expect?
- A guide to assessing decision-making capacity
Physicians must care for many patients who are neither fully capable nor totally incapable of understanding and expressing choices about their treatment. We present an algorithm for assessing decision-making capacity.
New Series: Introduction
- Medical problems in pregnancy
This month we start a new series with an article on cardiovascular problems in pregnancy; future articles will cover hypertension, selected neurologic problems, medications, and other pregnancy-related topics for the internist.
Medical Problems in Pregnancy
- Cardiovascular problems and pregnancy: An approach to management
We review the impact of pregnancy on a number of heart diseases (and vice versa) and offer recommendations for their management.
Commentary
The withdrawal of rofecoxib (Vioxx) has important implications both for patients with arthritis and for the pharmaceutical field in general.