Circulating T-Cell Subsets, Monocytes, and Natural Killer Cells in Peripartum Cardiomyopathy: Results From the Multicenter IPAC Study.

Objective: The aim of this work was to evaluate the hypothesis that the distribution of circulating immune cell subsets, or their activation state, is significantly different between peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) and healthy postpartum (HP) women.

Background: PPCM is a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality, and an immune-mediated etiology has been hypothesized. Cellular immunity, altered in pregnancy and the peripartum period, has been proposed to play a role in PPCM pathogenesis.

Sleep-isolated Trichotillomania (SITTM): A Case Report.

We report a case of sleep-isolated trichotillomania admitted to the hospital for alcohol detoxification. It would be helpful for patients with sleep-isolated trichotillomania to have diagnostic polysomnography to identify any other sleep-related pathology and correlate sleep-isolated trichotillomania behaviors with the sleep cycle to identify specific treatment for sleep-isolated trichotillomania.

A Review of Esophageal Chest Pain.

Noncardiac chest pain is a term that encompasses all causes of chest pain after a cardiac source has been excluded. This article focuses on esophageal sources for chest pain. Esophageal chest pain (ECP) is common, affects quality of life, and carries a substantial health care burden.

Emergency Neurological Life Support: Acute Ischemic Stroke.

Acute ischemic stroke is a neurological emergency that can be treated with time-sensitive interventions, including intravenous thrombolysis and endovascular approaches. Extensive study has demonstrated that rapid assessment and treatment are essential for improving neurological outcome. For this reason, acute ischemic stroke was chosen as an Emergency Neurological Life Support protocol.

A thrombus in transit through a patent foramen ovale.

Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a congenital heart defect that may first be diagnosed in adulthood and has a prevalence of 25% to 30%. Although many patients with PFO are asymptomatic and do not require treatment, paradoxical embolism can cause stroke or myocardial infarction. The authors report an unusual case of PFO with a transversing thrombus in an 80-year-old man.

Colorectal cancer risk information presented by a nonphysician assistant does not increase screening rates.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of presenting individualized colorectal cancer (CRC) risk information for increasing CRC screening rates in primary care patients at above-average risk of CRC.

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Georgia Regents University in Augusta-an academic family medicine clinic in the southeastern United States.