A case of atypical Bartonella henselae infection in a patient with methimazole-induced agranulocytosis.

Antithyroid medications such as methimazole and propylthiouracil are commonly used to treat hyperthyroid disorders. Thionamide-induced agranulocytosis is a rare but life-threatening potential side effect of these medicines. In addition to routine monitoring of blood counts, healthcare workers caring for patients on such medication need to be mindful of atypical presentations of acute agranulocytosis throughout the treatment course.

Readability of American Academy of Family Physicians patient education materials.

Background And Objectives: Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for the reading demands of patient education materials (PEMs) to exceed the actual literacy abilities of the typical American adult. The purposes of this study were to (1) assess reading demands of English and Spanish language American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) PEMs and (2) examine whether reading demands of English language AAFP PEMs varied from 2004 to 2012.

Methods: In December 2012, matched English and Spanish language AAFP PEMs, available via http://www.

Effect of a computerized body mass index prompt on diagnosis and treatment of adult obesity.

Background: In obese adults, physicians often fail to identify obesity and recommend treatments for it. We sought to determine whether a computerized body mass index (BMI) chart prompt would increase the likelihood that patients of family physicians would be diagnosed with obesity and referred for obesity treatment.

Methods: A total of 846 obese patients of 37 family physicians were randomly assigned to either have a patient's BMI chart prompt placed in their electronic medical record (intervention group) or not have a BMI prompt (comparison group) placed in the record.