Der Internist
-
A 44-year-old man had persistent fever following a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Because of progressive sinus tachycardia, thyroid hormones were measured which showed hyperthyroidism. ⋯ We diagnosed subacute granulomatous thyroiditis associated with SARS-CoV‑2 infection and initiated therapy with prednisolone. This therapy resulted in rapid improvement of the patient's clinical condition and complete remission after three months.
-
The etiology of hyperventilation is multifactorial. When excluding somatic causes, neurogenic hyperventilation must always be considered. Since hyperventilation itself causes neuromuscular symptoms such as paresthesia, vertigo, cephalgia, and nausea, the differential diagnosis of viral meningitis in the presence of hyperventilation is not always obvious and can easily be overlooked. Our case report shows that somatogenic causes of hyperventilation should be carefully excluded.
-
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia. The number of people affected will increase dramatically in the coming decades due to the demographic change. Causal pharmacological approaches have not been available to date. The monoclonal anti-amyloid beta antibody aducanumab was recently approved for the treatment of AD in the USA but was rejected in Europe in December 2021 by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). ⋯ Anti-amyloid antibodies represent the first cause-based, disease-modifying therapy for AD approved in the USA. Compared to the near-complete removal of cerebral amyloid plaques, the magnitude of the clinical effect is smaller and the benefit for patients is currently subject to controversial discussions. Nonetheless, the new treatment option represents an important step in the development of effective treatment. Future strategies for the treatment of AD will likely aim at a multimodal concept with different molecular targets. A prerequisite for all effective disease-modifying therapies will be an early biomarker-based diagnosis prior to the onset of a dementia-type syndrome.