Table of Contents
From the Editor
- ‘Even when the wound is healed, the scar remains’
Persistent or repetitive inflammatory or ischemic insults to internal organs may lead to progressive scarring that culminates in organ failure.
The Clinical Picture
- Iris roseola: A diagnostic clue in neurosyphilis
The patient had a 3-week history of decreased vision in the left eye, with a best-corrected visual acuity of 20/100.
- Varicella-zoster virus transmission from herpes zoster exposure
Two weeks before the patient developed fever and a rash, his mother had developed herpes zoster on her torso.
Symptoms to Diagnosis
- Unexplained liver injury: Searching for the cause
The patient presented with persistent low back pain, nausea, poor appetite, and an unintentional weight loss of more than 30 lb over the previous 6 weeks.
Interpreting Key Trials
- FINEARTS-HF: Improving outcomes in heart failure with preserved or mildly reduced ejection fraction
FINEARTS-HF established finerenone as an effective medical therapy to reduce hospitalizations for heart failure in patients with HFpEF or HFmrEF.
Review
- Reversing fibrosis in metabolic dysfunction–associated steatohepatitis—beyond telling patients to lose weight
Weight loss of at least 10% is associated with fibrosis regression in most patients, but losing this amount of weight and keeping it off is challenging, making pharmacologic and procedural interventions essential tools in clinical practice.
Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential and heart disease: What every internist needs to knowClonal hematopoiesis is increasingly recognized as a driver of different types of heart disease, including ischemic heart disease, heart failure, arrhythmias, and nonischemic cardiac inflammation.
- Sex-specific risk factors for stroke in women: Focus on the 2024 AHA/ASA guideline
Sex-specific factors like adverse pregnancy outcomes and premature and early menopause play a critical and often underrecognized role in shaping lifetime stroke risk in women.
Commentary
To avoid falling into ageism bias, we must maintain a framework grounded in respect for the patient, one that deliberately centers on the patient’s voice.