The Utilization of Blockchain for Data Security for the Chronic Pain Physician.

Purpose Of Review: The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the surge in medical data utilization, notably impacting chronic pain management given its enormous economist cost. While the collection and use of data enhances research and care quality, data exchange risks compromising integrity and privacy, exemplified by the Change Healthcare cyberattack. Here, we review the potential of blockchain for the utilization for cybersecurity in the healthcare system with an emphasis on the field of chronic pain.

A 55-year-old man with severe persistent asthma poorly responsive to asthma therapy.

Asthma is often triggered by allergic and nonallergic factors in atopic individuals and readily responds to anti-inflammatory and bronchodilator therapy. The differential diagnosis for poorly responsive disease includes severe persistent asthma with associated allergic rhinitis, cardiac disorders such as left ventricular failure or mitral stenosis, vocal cord dysfunction, gastroesophageal reflux disease, recurrent aspiration, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency, sarcoidosis, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, bronchiectasis, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, airway neoplasm, and Churg-Strauss vasculitis. A careful history and physical in conjunction with appropriate screening of laboratory information will usually direct the clinician to the correct diagnosis.

A 44-year-old man with bilateral eyelid swelling.

Swollen eyelids are commonly ascribed to allergic conjunctivitis, contact dermatitis, eczema, angioedema, or acute sinusitis. The differential diagnosis extends to thyroid eye disease; blepharitis; Sjögren's syndrome; Churg-Strauss vasculitis; Wegener's granulomatosis; Gleich syndrome; orbital and ocular lymphoid hyperplasia or adnexal lymphoma; idiopathic orbital inflammatory disease/idiopathic sclerosing orbital inflammation; rarely, orbital parasitosis; and IgG4-related diseases. The likely diagnosis proceeds from the more to the less common in patients without a history of allergy or infection.

Biological terrorism and the allergist's office practice.

During the anthrax outbreak and threat in Trenton (2001), our allergy practice experienced increased visits from approximately 50 of our regular patients with symptoms they believed resulted from anthrax exposure. In all cases, their symptoms were caused by a combination of an exacerbation of their underlying allergic disease and anxiety because of possible exposure to anthrax. Our objective is to present an orderly approach to the allergist's outpatients presenting with possible exposure to a bioterrorist's agent.

A 41-year-old male with cough, wheeze, and dyspnea poorly responsive to asthma therapy.

Reactive airway disease is often triggered by an upper respiratory viral infection and readily responds to anti-inflammatory and bronchodilator therapy. The differential diagnosis for unresponsive disease includes poorly controlled asthma, noncompliance with medical regimen, vocal cord dysfunction, rhinosinusitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease or recurrent aspiration, foreign body aspiration, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, Churg-Strauss vasculitis, cardiac disorders such as congestive heart failure or mitral stenosis, or other pulmonary disorders such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, interstitial lung disease, bronchiectasis, sarcoidosis, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, pulmonary embolism, cystic fibrosis, airway neoplasms, or laryngotracheomalacia. As is often the case, a meticulous history can expeditiously direct the clinician to the diagnosis, especially in a patient without a smoking, asthmatic, or atopic history.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

This article reviews the virology, history, pathology, epidemiology, clinical presentations, complications, radiology, laboratory testing, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of severe respiratory distress syndrome, with reference to documented outbreaks of the disease.

An HIV-infected patient with Nocardia asteroides bilateral pneumonia.

Pneumonia remains a concern for persons with long-standing HIV infection. We present a case of a 43-year-old HIV-infected woman with bilateral pneumonia whose presentation suggested the cause was a bacterial pathogen. A chest of radiograph and CT scan of the chest revealed infiltrates and adenopathies, but this did not help in the differential diagnosis.

Giant cell arteritis presenting as facial swelling.

Facial swelling is commonly ascribed to angioedema and a host of other causes. Temporal arteritis (TA), a disease most often diagnosed in patients over the age of 50 years, frequently presents with nonspecific and often ignored complaints (headache, symptoms of polymyalgia rheumatica, low-grade fever, fever of unknown origin, loss of appetite, depression, joint pains, weight loss, hair loss, and even respiratory symptoms). The diagnosis of TA is highly likely in the presence of new-onset headaches, polymyalgia rheumatica, and a tender, cord-like, or swollen temporal artery.

Fever of unknown origin due to zoonoses.

Fevers of unknown origin have been classified as classic, nosocomial, immune-deficient, and HIV-related. More than half of the 1407 human pathogens are zoonotic, making zoonotic infections an important subcategory in each of the classifications. This article describes both common and unusual zoonoses causing fevers of unknown origin.

Hereditary angioedema presenting in late middle age after angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor treatment.

Background: Angioedema due to Cl esterase inhibitor (CI-INH) deficiency may be hereditary (HAE), commonly first occurring in childhood, or acquired (AAE), with onset usually in middle age. Type I HAE exhibits low levels of functionally normal C1-INH. Dysfunctional Cl-INH typifies type II HAE.