December 2015
21 ArticlesNo Section
Adverse drug reactions and organ damage: The skin
Cutaneous adverse drug reactions are frequent, affecting 2–3% of hospitalized patients and in one twentieth of them are potentially life-threatening. Almost any pharmacologic agent can induce skin... more
Internal Medicine Flashcard
Returning traveler with persistent diarrhea
A 29-year-old Caucasian man was referred to our hospital for evaluation of 4-month history of ongoing colicky abdominal pain, occasional fever and persistent diarrhea. He traveled with a group of... more
Letter to the Editor
Aliceology: Alice in literature-land
“Alice's Adventure in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking-glass, and What Alice Found There” written by Lewis Carroll were published in 1865 and 1871, respectively. Ever since Clark [1] first used “... more
Obesity and breast cancer — Association even more relevant in males?
Male breast cancer (MBC) is a rare disease. It accounts for a less than 1% of total malignant diseases and for a less than 1% of all breast cancer cases [1]. Besides the fact that it is much less... more
The role of doctors in managing scarcity
The paper by Macchi and Pavan [1] reaffirms that sustainable publicly funded healthcare systems depend on a mature recognition of the necessity to manage scarcity. The moral importance of preventing... more
Brain mimickers of myocardial infarction
I read with interest the paper by A. Sharma and colleagues [1]. Electrocardiographic (ECG) changes mimicking an acute coronary syndrome are relatively common among patients with acute disorders of... more
Cardiospecific troponin immunoassays: How low is it worth to go?
We read with interest the recent article of Bouzas-Mosquera et al., who investigated the impact effect of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) values on the frequency of myocardial ischemia and subsequent... more
Original Article
Bed-side inferior vena cava diameter and mean arterial pressure predict long-term mortality in hospitalized patients with heart failure: 36months of follow-up
In discharged patients with heart failure (HF), diverse conditions can intervene to worsen outcome. We would investigate whether such factors present on hospital admission can affect long-term... more
Diagnostic utility of contemporary echo and BNP assessment in patients with acute heart failure during early hospitalization
The use of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and echocardiography in acute heart failure (AHF) diagnosis is poorly employed in the Emergency Department. The aim of the present study is to evaluate... more
Predictors of abdominal adipose tissue compartments: 18-year follow-up of young men with and without family history of diabetes
Abdominal adipose tissue (AAT) consists of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), which can be further divided into superficial and deep SAT. Despite being a key factor... more
Uric acid in metabolic syndrome: From an innocent bystander to a central player
Uric acid, once viewed as an inert metabolic end-product of purine metabolism, has been recently incriminated in a number of chronic disease states, including hypertension, metabolic syndrome,... more
Association between ischemic stroke and carbon monoxide poisoning: A population-based retrospective cohort analysis
The long-term consequence of cardiovascular health has not been evaluated for patients with carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. This study evaluated the risk of ischemic stroke using population-based... more
Underweight but metabolically abnormal phenotype: Metabolic features and its association with cardiovascular disease
Previous studies revealed that among people with normal and high body mass index (BMI), metabolic abnormalities contribute to the increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, studies... more
An investigation of multimorbidity measures as risk factors for pneumonia in elderly frail patients admitted to hospital
To investigate the association of different chronic comorbidities, considered singularly and together in Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS) indexes, with pneumonia diagnosis in a group of elderly... more
Falling in the elderly: Do statistical models matter for performance criteria of fall prediction? Results from two large population-based studies
To compare performance criteria (i.e., sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, area under receiver operating characteristic curve and accuracy) of linear and... more
The mortality of acutely ill medical patients for up to 60days after admission to a resource poor hospital in sub-Saharan Africa compared with patients of similar illness severity admitted to a Danish Regional Teaching Hospital — An exploratory...
The outcomes of patients with the same severity of illness in the developed and developing countries have not been compared. Illness severity can now be measured anywhere by the National Early... more
Efficacy of lifestyle interventions in patients with type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis
The current meta-analysis evaluated the outcomes of various lifestyle interventions, including diet modifications (DIET), physical activity (PA), and patient education (EDU) in reducing the risk of... more
Review Article
Ischemic stroke outcome: A review of the influence of post-stroke complications within the different scenarios of stroke care
Stroke remains one of the main causes of death and disability worldwide. The challenge of predicting stroke outcome has been traditionally assessed from a general point of view, where baseline non-... more
Adverse effects of drugs on the kidney
The number of drugs presently marketed is countless, their prescription is relentlessly growing, such that the likelihood of adverse effects is strikingly increasing. As many drugs are cleared by the... more
Ten common pitfalls in the evaluation of patients with hyponatremia
Hyponatremia is the most common electrolyte disorder in hospitalized patients associated with increased morbidity and mortality. On the other hand, inappropriate treatment of hyponatremia (under- or... more