Jun 29, 2017
Author: Nick Hatch, M.D.
Educational Pearls
- Acyclovir toxicity can uncommonly cause altered mental status, low blood glucose, hallucinations and myoclonic jerks.
- Toxicity often occurs in the setting of renal insufficiency, as it is cleared by the kidneys.
- Acyclovir is often used to treat shingles, which can also cause...
Jun 27, 2017
Author: Michael Hunt, M.D.
Educational Pearls
- Wells Criteria was initially designed to screen patients for further workup for PE.
- Aspects of the Wells Criteria include: signs and symptoms of DVT (3 points), PE most likely dia (3 points), HR > 100 (1.5 points), immobility for > 3 days or surgery in last 4 weeks (1.5...
Jun 25, 2017
Podcast #221: Walking Corpse Syndrome
Author: Erik Verzemnieks, M.D.
Educational Pearls
- Walking Corpse Syndrome (aka Cotard Delusion) is a very rare psychiatric disorder that leads to the belief that one is a “walking corpse”.
- Often co-presents with depression, schizophrenia, and starvation.
- Responds to...
Jun 23, 2017
Author: Aaron Lessen, M.D.
Educational Pearls
- Atrial fibrillation is common.
- One of the best treatments for a fib is cardioversion back into sinus rhythm.
- Cardioversion may increase stroke risk if A-Fib duration is greater than 48 hours, but some new data suggests that this risk may happen as soon as 12 hours.
- However,...
Jun 21, 2017
Author: Chris Holmes, M.D.
Educational Pearls
- “Sepo’ is a term from Homer (author of The Iliad and The Odyssey), and means “I rot”.
- Hippocrates in 400 BC identified sepsis as a “dangerous decay within the body”.
- Galen in 200 AD believed pus was “laudable”.
- The Greeks and Romans used the term...