A 77-year-old African American female with rheumatoid arthritis presented with fever and unsteady gait. She was started on broad-spectrum antimicrobials due to CT evidence for sacroiliitis and psoas abscess and underwent partial excision of her sacroiliac bone and drainage of the abscess. One of four blood cultures grew and the patient was sent home with intravenous ampicillin for 6 weeks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpstein-Barr virus (EBV) infections frequently affect the liver and cause hepatitis. EBV is a well-known trigger of certain autoimmune diseases. There are few case reports showing the evidence of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) following EBV infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 58-year-old man presented to the emergency department with acute left-sided weakness and left visual field defect. His examination was significant for confusion, acetone odour, tachycardia and tachypnoea. Further blood tests revealed an anion gap of 31 mEq/L, serum osmolal gap of 34 mOsm/kg, and creatinine 3.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe new American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association blood cholesterol guidelines of 2013 are the first major revision of cholesterol therapy guidance in over a decade. Commonly used low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) target goals have been abrogated in favor of intensity of statin therapy, more in line with data from randomized clinical trials. Four groups of adult patients have been identified from these studies who will most benefit from statins: patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD); patients with primary elevations of LDL-C ≥ 190 mg/dL; diabetic patients between age 40 and 75 years without ASCVD whose LDL-C is between 70 and 189 mg/dL; and patients between age 40 and 75 years without ASCVD or diabetes with LDL-C between 70 and 189 mg/dL and an estimated 10-year ASCVD risk of 7.
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