Imaging
- Is neuroimaging necessary to evaluate syncope?
If the diagnosis is unclear after the history and examination, then electroencephalography during tilt-table testing can help.
Spontaneous coronary artery dissection: An often unrecognized cause of acute coronary syndromeSCAD accounts for up to 35% of acute myocardial infarctions in women 50 or younger, and even more in pregnant women.
- Cancer screening: A modest proposal for prevention
Large-scale cancer screening programs have the unintended consequences of false-positive results and overdiagnosis.
- Flu or strep? Rapid tests can mislead
Group A streptococci are common colonizers with viral pharyngitis.
- Assessing liver fibrosis without biopsy in patients with HCV or NAFLD
Biopsy is still the gold standard, but methods based on clinical information and on imaging are emerging.
- A paraneoplastic potassium and acid-base disturbance
A 55-year-old smoker with COPD presents with malaise, paresthesias, and severe hypertension. What is the cause?
- Dancing sternal wires: A radiologic sign of sternal dehiscence
Loose fragments of bone and wire pose a danger of puncturing the heart, making sternal dehiscence a surgical emergency.
- Managing malignant pleural effusion
Depending on the circumstances, options are observation, thoracentesis, an indwelling catheter, and chemical pleurodesis.
- Emphysematous cystitis
The patient had fallen in her home and remained on the floor for 2 days until neighbors heard her cries and called 911.
- Rapidly progressive pleural effusion
A 33-year-old nonsmoker presents with severe pleuritic chest pain; the differential diagnosis is broad.