The American journal of medicine
-
A new type of hereditary angioedema was described recently. It was characterized by recurrent bouts of angioedema in various organs and normal C1 inhibitor and was observed mainly in women. Our aim was to conduct a detailed study of the clinical features of this condition. ⋯ Hereditary angioedema with normal C1 inhibitor levels shows a characteristic pattern of clinical symptoms. The main clinical features include skin swellings, tongue swellings, and abdominal pain attacks. There are many differences in the clinical symptoms and course of disease between this type of hereditary angioedema and classic hereditary angioedema caused by a genetic C1 inhibitor deficiency.
-
Because the training that noncardiologists require to perform cardiac hand-carried ultrasound has not been defined, we studied how well hospitalists perform hand-carried echocardiography after limited training. ⋯ Hospitalists can learn aspects of hand-carried echocardiography, but after 35 training echocardiograms cannot replicate the quality of conventional echocardiography. Whether the lower performance skills are important will depend on the clinical context of hand-carried echocardiography performed by hospitalists.
-
Clinicians face a diagnostic challenge when a patient with the classic fever, pharyngitis, and lymphadenopathy triad of infectious mononucleosis has a negative "spot" heterophile antibody test. This screening test, although commonly considered sensitive for the presence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection, may be negative early after infection. ⋯ Other infectious and noninfectious disorders also may present in ways that mimic mononucleosis, but fail to generate EBV's archetypal triad of clinical findings. A systematic approach to the diagnosis of mononucleosis-like illnesses ensures that conditions warranting specific therapy are distinguished from others requiring only supportive care.