A 38-year-old man returned to the United States from west Africa, where he had spent the last 4 months in Liberia and Sierra Leone where he owned farms. Two days before his August 2004 return, he developed fever, chills, and severe sore throat, and shortly after his arrival, he was hospitalized with, in addition to these complaints, diarrhea and back pain. Lassa fever was considered, and administration of ribavirin was planned, but the patient died before receiving this antiviral medication. The diagnosis of Lassa fever was confirmed by serum antigen detection, immunohistochemical staining of postmortem liver tissue, virus isolation in cell culture, and genome sequencing.
A retrospective review of 1387 cases of salmonellosis revealed that almost half of cases in children younger than 5 years of age were associated with contact with a reptile.
Physicians increasingly are aware of the need to provide prophylaxis against venous thrombosis for the medically ill patient in the hospital environment. This article attempts to separate the fact from fiction regarding VTE prophylaxis.
Merck announced on September 30th that it is voluntarily withdrawing rofecoxib (Vioxx) from the worldwide market.
Mitral Doppler E/Ea correlates better with PCWP than BNP and is more specific for predicting PCWP > 15 mm Hg.
At this time, BNP seems to be a useful initial test that should not be repeated during short hospital stays.
Reflex tachycardia, during a Valsalva maneuver, is a sign of normal LV filling.