An unusual artery causing an unusual stroke.

Bilateral thalamic infarctions are uncommon and often lead to more severe and long-lasting symptoms than unilateral thalamic infarctions. This article describes a patient with bilateral thalamic infarction caused by occlusion in the artery of Percheron, an anatomic variant thought to be present in 4% to 12% of the population.

Brief Motivational Interviewing for Substance Use by Medical Students Is Effective in the Emergency Department.

Background: Efficacy of medical student substance use interventions in the emergency department (ED) setting remains unstudied.

Objective: In this pilot study, we set out to determine whether medical students could perform a brief motivational interview for substance use in the ED.

Methods: At two hospitals, medical students utilized motivational interviewing skills taught by their medical school curriculum and administered a substance use intervention to ED patients who met the study definition of unhealthy substance use.

Mumps: Resurgence of a once-dormant disease.

Mumps is a systemic viral illness, preventable by vaccination, that typically affects children and is characterized by unilateral or bilateral swelling of the parotid glands. Uncommon complications such as orchitis, oophoritis, deafness, pancreatitis, aseptic meningitis, and encephalitis occur more often in adults. Recent outbreaks of the disease appear to be caused by a failure to maintain herd immunity in certain populations, particularly in affluent white communities.

Sex Differences in Prevalence of Emergency Department Patient Substance Use.

Purpose: Substance use and misuse is prevalent in emergency department (ED) populations. While the prevalence of substance use and misuse is reported, sex-specific trends in ED populations have not been documented. We set out to determine the sex-specific prevalence of ED patient substance use during this current epidemic.