Infectious Diseases
- Brain abscesses in a 60-year-old man
The lesions were not from compromised immunity, but from septic hematogenous spread of an odontogenic infection.
- Palmoplantar exanthema and liver dysfunction
The patient admitted to having had unprotected sex with a female sex worker.
- When does S aureus bacteremia require transesophageal echocardiography?
TTE is a good starting point, but TEE is indicated in patients with a high pretest probability of endocarditis.
- S aureus bacteremia: TEE and infectious disease consultation
Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia demands further evaluation, as up to 25% of people who have it may have endocarditis.
- Necrotizing fasciitis after a watercraft accident
Despite intravenous antibiotics and surgical debridement, the patient’s right leg had to be amputated.
- The algorithm less traveled
At Bellevue, the RPR was a routine test; at the University of Pennsylvania not so much—it all depends on context.
- Eyes of the mimicker
A 42-year-old man presented with intermittent fevers, rigors, headache, and myalgia, and now, one-sided vision loss.
- How soon should patients with infective endocarditis be referred for valve surgery?
Refer sooner rather than later if the patient has heart failure, uncontrolled infection, or embolic risk.
- Infective endocarditis: Refer for expert team care as soon as possible
Infectious endocarditis needs multidisciplinary care. if surgery is indicated, it is best done sooner.
- Physical examination in dyspnea (December 2017)
Errors occurred in Shellenberger RA, Balakrishnan B, Avula S, Ebel A, Shaik S. Diagnostic value of the physical examination in patients with dyspnea. Cleve Clin J Med 2017; 84(12):943–950.