Chest
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A 62-year-old woman presented with a 3-month history of abdominal distension and decreased exercise tolerance. A chest radiograph showed a probable left pleural effusion (Fig 1). A CT scan of the abdomen revealed a solid ovarian mass with omental caking and a large volume of ascites; there was also confirmation of a left pleural effusion. ⋯ She was extubated after surgery, but immediately after extubation, she became markedly hypotensive and hypoxemic with a BP of 50/20 mm Hg and an oxygen saturation of 70%. An ECG showed T-wave inversions from V1 to V5 and an S1Q3T3 pattern (Fig 2). A bedside echocardiogram showed an enlarged right ventricle (RV), septal dyskinesia, and obliteration of the left ventricle, all consistent with systolic and diastolic RV overload (Fig 3).
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Case Reports
An unusual cause of respiratory failure in a 25-year-old heart and lung transplant recipient.
A 25-year-old woman, a never smoker with a history of heart-lung transplantation for World Health Organization group 1 pulmonary arterial hypertension performed 20 months prior to presentation, was evaluated for shortness of breath. Following transplantation, she was initiated on standard therapy of prednisone, tacrolimus, and azathioprine, along with routine antimicrobial prophylaxis. ⋯ Sirolimus was added 9 months prior to presentation. Three months prior to presentation, she was admitted for increasing oxygen requirements, shortness of breath, and bilateral infiltrates on the CT scans of the chest.
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A 44-year-old man presented with a 1-day history of sudden-onset abdominal pain. The pain was characterized as severe, diffuse, sharp, and nonradiating. Associated symptoms included nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and subjective fevers. ⋯ His medical history was notable for gout and end-stage renal disease secondary to chronic nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug use, for which he attended hemodialysis sessions three times weekly. Surgical history consisted of a currently nonfunctioning left upper extremity fistula, a longstanding right internal jugular PermCath IV access for chronic hemodialysis that had been removed 2 weeks prior to presentation, and a left brachiocephalic fistula. He did not smoke, consume alcohol, or have a history of illicit drug use.
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Mobile health (mHealth) combines the decentralization of health care with patient centeredness. Mature mHealth applications (apps) and services could provide actionable information, coaching, or alerts at a fraction of the cost of conventional health care. Different categories of apps attract diverse safety and privacy regulation. It is too early to tell whether these apps can overcome questions about their use cases, business models, and regulation.