[Work-related stress urticaria].

A medical doctor occasionally experienced itching papular exanthema during work hours. Careful history taking and a diary of symptoms demonstrated an association between the urticaria and stressful work situations. Urticaria can have many triggers, and stress is among the well-known triggers.

Constrictive pericarditis in a contemporary Danish cohort: aetiology and outcome.

Objectives: The aetiology and outcome of constrictive pericarditis vary between geographic regions and has changed over time. We describe the diagnostic work-up and outcome in a contemporary cohort of Danish patients with constrictive pericarditis.

Design: Hospital databases were searched for patients undergoing cardiac catheterisation for suspected constrictive pericarditis or for patients undergoing pericardiectomy or discharged with the diagnosis of constrictive pericarditis.

["Cardiac packages" for garden gnomes].

Garden gnomes tend to be obese, to smoke and to be physically inactive. Further, they are often socioeconomically deprived which adversely influences the risk and prognosis of cardiovascular disease. It is likely that garden gnomes will not benefit from the "cardiac packages", describing how Danish patients supposed to suffer from cardiovascular disease are entitled to timely and structured assessment in outpatient departments.

[Coffee: the panacea of the present].

The effects of coffee on the human body have been recognized through centuries and have now become the subject of systematic research. Coffee contains many biologically active substances, but the content of these is influenced by the method of brewing the coffee and the addition of milk. This review focuses on less well-known but rather more amusing facts regarding the effects of coffee and concludes that coffee drinking is beneficial as regards mental and physical capacity and mortality.

[Choosing a medical specialty--not a decision to leave to aptitude tests].

Introduction: Choosing a medical specialty is partly dependent on personality traits, but also on previous clinical experience. As of 2008, restructuring of the Danish postgraduate medical training programme, allows less time for gaining clinical experience prior to entering specialist training. Aptitude testing may thus become increasingly important in determining suitability for a medical specialty.

Vitamin D deficiency is unrelated to type of atrial fibrillation and its complications.

Introduction: Vitamin D plays an important role in a broad range of organ functions, including the cardiovascular system. Only one study has tested the association between vitamin D deficiency and arrhythmia and it found no association. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between vitamin D deficiency and the type of atrial fibrillation (AF) and complications to AF.

[Medical novels as a supplement to medical literature in the (postgraduate) study of medicine].

Introduction: Medically relevant fiction and biographies are thought to possibly improve the reader's emotional competences, thus contributing to the (postgraduate) study of medicine. This paper evaluates whether medical novels might be relevant in the (postgraduate) study of medicine.

Materials And Methods: The contents of four medical novels were evaluated qualitatively as regard to the professional and cultural contents and relevance.