Articles related to Pulmonology

Questions run across a host of topics, and in September you can challenge yourself in mortality risk, myocardial infarction (MI), insomnia, liver cancer, lipids, and Parkinson’s disease guidelines. Each question is worth 4 points with bonuses for quick response. Speed matters in this quiz. Why not give it a try and see if you can get on the leaderboard of the Smartest Doc?

To assess short-term risk for severe cardiovascular events (excluding myocarditis and pericarditis) after COVID-19 vaccination, adults younger than 75 years hospitalized for PE, acute MI, hemorrhagic stroke, or ischemic stroke (73,325 events) were reviewed in relation to a 1st or 2nd COVID vaccine dose. No association was found between the Pfizer–BioNTech or Moderna vaccine and severe cardiovascular events. The first dose of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine was associated with acute MI and PE in the second week after vaccination. An association with MI in the second week after a single dose of the Janssen vaccine could not be ruled out.

The founding editor of Comprehensive Clinical Nephrology teases out for us our physiologic response to salt, sugar, fat, and water that creates a recipe for obesity – a recipe being used daily by many Americans with obvious results. His recommendation? “Drinking more water and reducing salt intake offer cheap, easy and healthy strategies that may prevent or treat obesity.” Click to see the evidence behind the conclusion.

What is the best strategy for preventing stroke in patients with non-valvular AF: anticoagulants or left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO)? The answer depends on the individual patient’s combination of stroke and bleeding risks. In this study, combined risks favored LAAO for higher bleeding risk, but that benefit became less certain at higher stroke risks.

A 57-year-old woman is evaluated for a 4-month history of progressive exertionaldyspnea and occasional chest pain and palpitations. She has limited cutaneoussystemic sclerosis with Raynaud phenomenon and gastroesophageal refluxdisease. Click to see the physical and lab results and see if you can choose the bestnext step.

A 66-year-old male presented with a 5-day history of progressive shortness of breath,right-sided pleurisy, and productive cough. He also has night sweats and malaise, but nofevers, chills, or hemoptysis. Review his medical history and choose your course ofaction.