Cardiac involvement in mixed connective tissue disease: a systematic review.

Objective: To report the clinical characteristic of cardiac disease in patients with mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD).

Method: We identified published case series that reported cardiac manifestations of patients with MCTD by searching the PubMed database using the search terms "mixed connective tissue disease". We identified 11 case series that met our eligibility criteria.

Risk of venous thromboembolism in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

We performed this meta-analysis to assess venous thromboembolism risk in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. A comprehensive search was performed in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane databases. Nine observational studies met our inclusion criteria and were included in the data analysis.

Safety and efficacy of renal denervation as a novel treatment of ventricular tachycardia storm in patients with cardiomyopathy.

Background: Modulation of the autonomic nervous system has been used to treat refractory ventricular tachycardia (VT). Renal artery denervation (RDN) is under investigation for the treatment of sympathetic-driven cardiovascular diseases.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to report the largest case series to date using RDN as adjunctive therapy for refractory VT in patients with underlying cardiomyopathy.

Regulatory T cells and the risk of CMV end-organ disease in patients with AIDS.

Objectives: Cytomegalovirus (CMV)-specific T-cell effectors (CMV-Teff) protect against CMV end-organ disease (EOD). In HIV-infected individuals, their numbers and function vary with CD4 cell numbers and HIV load. The role of regulatory T cells (Treg) in CMV-EOD has not been extensively studied.

Idiopathic granulomatous interstitial nephritis responsive to mycophenolate mofetil therapy.

Granulomatous interstitial nephritis (GIN) is a rare histologic disease. Various causes have been reported in the literature, including drugs, sarcoidosis, and infections. Other incidents have no discernible cause and are identified as idiopathic.

The impact of preoperative coronal plane deformity on proximal humerus fixation with endosteal augmentation.

Objectives: To examine the impact of preoperative coronal plane deformity on functional and radiographic outcomes on endosteal strut augmentation of proximal humerus fracture fixation.

Design: Single surgeon, retrospective analysis of a prospective database. Case series.

Combined dexamethasone suppression-corticotrophin-releasing hormone stimulation test in medication-free major depression and healthy volunteers.

Background: The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is dysfunctional in a subgroup of mood disorders.

Methods: We compared cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) responses in major depression and healthy volunteers to the combined dexamethasone suppression-corticotrophin-releasing hormone stimulation (DEX-CRH) test. Unlike other published studies, the study patients were medication-free and the healthy volunteers did not have first-degree relatives with a mood or psychotic disorder.

Trend of human rabies prophylaxis in developing countries: toward optimal rabies immunization.

Rabies is a fatal infectious disease. Because prevention is the key management for rabies, many vaccination regimens have been developed and used worldwide. The aims for developing rabies vaccination regimens include decreasing the number and amount of dosages, decreasing the duration and the number of clinical visits, and reducing cost.

Haemophilus influenzae serotype f as a rare cause of septic arthritis.

Non-type B Haemophilus influenzae emerges as a new pathogen in the post H. influenzae serotype b vaccine era. We describe a case of polyarticular septic arthritis caused by H.

Court-mandated outpatient psychiatric care for a pregnant woman with psychosis: a unique bridge to alliance.

We describe the case of a young pregnant woman with refractory schizoaffective disorder and how we reached a decision to apply for court-mandated outpatient psychiatric treatment (Assisted Outpatient Treatment or AOT). The patient was stable when we made this application as a preventive measure, given her serious prior episodes of illness. While there has been court-mandated outpatient obstetrical treatment, as far as we know this is the first report of mandated outpatient psychiatric treatment in connection with pregnancy.

Clinical characteristics of takotsubo cardiomyopathy in north america.

Background: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC) or transient left ventricular apical ballooning syndrome is an acute cardiac syndrome characterized by transient wall motion abnormalities extending beyond a single epicardial vessel in the absence of significant obstructive coronary artery disease.

Aim: This study was to describe the clinical characteristics of TC in North America.

Materials And Methods: We identified 10 patients who met the Mayo Clinic criteria for TC using our Electronic Medical Records.

Clinical features of inflammatory myopathies and their association with malignancy: a systematic review in asian population.

Introduction. Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) are a group of chronic systemic autoimmune diseases that mainly affect the skeletal muscle. The common subtypes include adult dermatomyositis (DM), polymyositis (PM), and inclusion body myositis (IBM).

Single-cuff forearm tourniquet in intravenous regional anaesthesia results in less pain and fewer sedation requirements than upper arm tourniquet.

Background: A limitation of Bier's block or i.v. regional anaesthesia (IVRA) is tourniquet pain.

Pulmonary blastomycosis: a new endemic area in New York state.

We describe three cases of pulmonary blastomycosis in patients from central New York State (NYS). Two of these cases occurred in 2012, and in patients who resided in the same county. Moreover, two of these cases manifested with acute respiratory distress syndrome and survived.

Pneumocystis pneumonia during primary HIV infection: a case report and review of the literature.

More than 90% of cases of pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) in adults occur in patients with chronic HIV infection with CD4 counts lower than 200 cells/ml. Even though primary HIV infection can cause transient profound CD4 lymphocytopenia, PCP is rarely reported during primary HIV infection. We report a case of a 26-year-old man who was diagnosed with PCP in the setting of primary HIV infection.

Lymphoepithelioma-like gastric carcinoma: an unusual consequence of Epstein-Barr virus infection in an HIV-infected woman.

Lymphoepithelioma-like-gastric carcinoma (LEL-GC) is an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated neoplasm of the stomach reported to have a better prognosis than conventional gastric adenocarcinoma. Unlike other EBV-associated malignancies, particularly lymphoproliferative disorders and undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma, for which risk has been shown to increase in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, LEL-GC remains rare; only one HIV-infected patient with LEL-GC has been reported previously. We describe an aggressive case of EBV-associated LEL-GC in a woman co-infected with HIV 1 and hepatitis C virus.

Life-threatening hypocalcemia associated with denosumab in a patient with moderate renal insufficiency.

Denosumab, a human monoclonal antibody to the receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand, is a novel therapy to osteoporotic fracture and skeletal-related events in patients with bone metastases. Hypocalcemia is its known adverse effect, although it is generally mild and transient and usually occurs in patients with severe chronic kidney disease or end-stage renal disease. We reported a case 61-year-old woman who received a single dose of denosumab and developed severe symptomatic hypocalcemia associated with prolong QTc interval requiring hospitalization for intravenous calcium.

A rare case of ecthyma gangrenosum associated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection.

Ecthyma gangrenosum (EG) is a well-recognized dermatological condition caused by gram-negative bacillary infection, particularly Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Association with gram-positive cocci is very rarely reported in the literature. To the best of our knowledge, we describe the third case of EG caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a patient with AIDS who presented with multiple typical necrotic lesions.

Twenty-five years of glutamate in schizophrenia: are we there yet?

At present, all medications for schizophrenia function primarily by blocking dopamine D2 receptors. Over 50 years ago, the first observations were made that subsequently led to development of alternative, glutamatergic conceptualizations. This special issue traces the historic development of the phencyclidine (PCP) model of schizophrenia from the initial description of the psychotomimetic effects of PCP in the early 1960s, through discovery of the link to N-methyl-D-aspartate-type glutamate receptors (NMDAR) in the 1980s, and finally to the development of NMDA-based treatment strategies starting in the 1990s.

Neurofunctional imaging of β-cell dynamics.

Here, we outline how islet cells use autocrine and paracrine 'circuits' of classical neurotransmitters and their corresponding receptors and transporters to communicate with vicinal β-cells to regulate glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Many of these same circuits operate in the central nervous system and can be visualized by molecular imaging. We discuss how these techniques might be applied to measuring the dynamics of β-cell function in real time.

Presence of crystals is not an evidence of absence of infection.

Acute monoarthritis is one of the most common rheumatologic presentations. However, it is clinically difficult to distinguish between an inflamed joint due to crystal-induced arthritis and an inflamed joint due to septic arthritis. Arthrocentesis and synovial fluid analysis are used to differentiate between these 2 conditions.