August 2021
28 ArticlesNo Section
Lung ultrasound in COVID-19: Insights from the frontline and research experiences
Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) has become a global threat. Its clinical course is different from other common illnesses and mortality remains high [1]. It is a challenge for clinicians to provide... more
Age and comorbidities are crucial predictors of mortality in severe obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome
Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is a highly prevalent disorder caused by the collapse of the upper airway during sleep [1]. In a USA nationwide study, 6.6% of 77.8 million individuals aged... more
Commentary
Consumer-led screening for atrial fibrillation: What is the next step?
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is increasingly prevalent in the general population and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Opportunistic screening for AF is now a class I indication in... more
Maintenance immunosuppressive therapy in autoimmune hepatitis: To stop or not to stop, that is the question.
Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a rare and challenging disease. Its presentation ranges from mildly elevated transaminases to jaundice with decompensated liver disease. Blood tests often reveal... more
Internal Medicine Flashcard
Pulsatile neck veins and hepatomegaly, and icterus in an elderly female
A 60-year-old male presented with complaints of deepening jaundice of 3-weeks duration. It was not accompanied by pyrexia, abdominal pain, or malaise. The patient gave a history of hot flushing. On... more
A young man with abdominal pain and intestinal distension
A 20-year old man of Balkan descent presented to the emergency department with abdominal pain and constipation of several days‘ duration. On clinical examination, he was afebrile and normotensive.... more
An old-age farmer with chronic dyspnea
A 94-year-old man, known case of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and chronic lung disease, presented to the Emergency Department with aggravation of his chronic dyspnea and non-productive cough since... more
Spontaneous pneumothorax in a patient with skin lesions
A 23- year- old man, presented to the emergency department with sudden dyspnea, without another symptom. On examination he had hypoxemia, and abolished breath sounds in the right lung. Skin... more
Invited commentary
Updating a simple clinical score predicting incident atrial fibrillation: The C2HEST score or more (mC2HEST)?
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia worldwide but the actual incidence and prevalence of AF may be underestimated because approximately 40% of patients are asymptomatic and... more
Letter to the Editor
Mask-off policy in the shadow of emerging variants of SARS-COV-2
From the beginning of the pandemic, several variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been identified with the significant capability of transmission rate relative to the wild-type virus. These emerging variants,... more
Blood pressure increase after Pfizer/BioNTech SARS-CoV-2 vaccine
Although various strategies modify the transition from infection to life-threatening forms of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), vaccines remain highly effective measures... more
Etiologies of Polyclonal Hypergammaglobulinemia: A scoping review
Dear Editor,
Anakinra or tocilizumab for prevention of COVID-19 death? A big dilemma
We have read with great interest the meta-analysis of observational studies performed by Pasin and colleagues [1] published in the European Journal of Internal Medicine, assessing the efficacy of... more
Phenotyping of non-high-risk acute pulmonary embolism patients: different initial manifestations of clinical deterioration
Dear Editor,
Use of hydroxychloroquine to control immune response and hypercoagulability in patients with primary antiphospholipid syndrome
Dear Editor,
Is troponin testing rather underestimated in clinic practice? Evidence from emergency medical admissions: Authors response
We thank A. Watanabe for his comments on our article, “Is there excessive troponin testing in clinical practice? Evidence from emergency medical admissions” and his suggestions [1,2].
The debated issue of direct oral anticoagulants correct dosing: When even the reviewer is confused
While the rejection of a paper submitted to a journal is an inevitable event in the activity of a researcher and must be accepted, sometimes the motivations for such rejection appear questionable or... more
Gender distribution in boards of internal medicine societies
Women account for approximately 75% of the health-sector workforce worldwide [1]. In 2017 43% [2] of physicians in Organization for Economic Development and Co-operation (OECD) countries were women.... more
Is the troponin testing rather underestimated in clinical practice? Evidence from emergency medical admissions
The novel findings reported by Conway R and colleagues in the current issue of European Journal of Internal Medicine, entitled “Is there excessive troponin testing in clinical practice? Evidence from... more
Original Article
Risk of stroke in CYP2C19 LoF polymorphism carrier coronary artery disease patients undergoing clopidogrel therapy: An ethnicity-based updated meta-analysis
Stroke is one of the major causes of morbidity and disability in the elderly peoples, with a global prevalence of 104.2 million people in 2017. According to global statistics, Central and East Asia,... more
Minimal portosystemic encephalopathy: A new nosological entity in patients with hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia
Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a potentially reversible disorder characterized by neuropsychiatric abnormalities and motor disturbances ranging from mild alterations of cognitive and motor functions... more
A model based on routine liver tests can reliably exclude intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy
Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is the most common liver disease in pregnancy [1,2]. It usually manifests in the late second or third trimesters of pregnancy and is characterized by... more
Refining age stratum of the C2HEST score for predicting incident atrial fibrillation in a hospital-based Chinese population
The incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) increases with age and accumulating comorbidities, conferring significant risks of ischemic stroke [1], heart failure (HF) [2], and mortality [3,4].... more
Inhaled antibiotics for treatment of adults with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB) is a chronic, progressive respiratory disease characterized by permanent and abnormal dilation of the bronchial walls, mucociliary dysfunction, mucus... more
Prevalence, determinants and practical implications of inappropriate hospitalizations in older subjects: A prospective observational study
Over the last decades, along with the aging of the population, an increase in the demand for medical services has been observed in developed countries. Older people are more prone to illnesses, often... more
Drug withdrawal in patients with autoimmune hepatitis in long-term histological remission: A prospective observational study
Recommendations for drug withdrawal in patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) in longstanding remission are conflicting and rely on retrospective data. We prospectively investigated the predictive... more
Review Article
Sarcopenia measurement in research and clinical practice
Sarcopenia is defined as an accelerated loss of skeletal muscle mass associated with decreased functional capacity [1–3]. The disease can range in severity from very mild to severe, preventing an... more
Combining New Classes of Drugs for HFrEF: from Trials to Clinical Practice
Standard of care for heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) combines inhibition of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) and blockade of the sympathetic system. Evidences... more