The American journal of medicine
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Although over the past 2 decades great strides have been made in increasing the awareness, detection, and treatment of hypertension (HTN), actual control of blood pressure is far from optimal. We hypothesized that current cigarette smoking, by acting as a marker for poor health related behavioral patterns, would be significantly associated with uncontrolled blood pressure (BP). ⋯ In disadvantaged African-American patients who report good medication compliance, former smoking status is strongly associated with HTN control. Physicians may need to be especially vigilant of BP control in patients who smoke.
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Acute abdomen (AA) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a challenging diagnostic and therapeutic problem. Most patients are on steroid and/or immunosuppressive treatment and mortality is high. ⋯ In SLE patients with AA, a SLEDAI score below 5 is indicative of non-SLE-related AA. Elevated aCL were found in patients with intraabdominal thrombosis. AA in inactive SLE is non-SLE-related and has low mortality, provided an appropriate surgical treatment is given. Early laparotomy influences positively the prognosis of SLE patients with AA.