Arch Intern Med
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The records of 40 patients with cancer and 684 patients without cancer admitted to a medical critical care unit were reviewed for the purpose of comparing survival. Patients with cancer had a higher mortality (55%, 22/40) than the patients without cancer (17%, 118/864). Patients with cancer and respiratory failure had a higher mortality (75%, 18/24) than patients without cancer but with respiratory failure (25%, 66/273) and a higher mortality than patients with cancer but without respiratory failure (25%, 4/16). ⋯ Patients with cancer but without respiratory failure had a mortality of 25% (4/16). All eight patients with cancer admitted to the hospital because of life-threatening metabolic disturbances survived. In deciding whether to apply critical care techniques to a patient with cancer, the physician should consider the specific nature of the life-threatening illness.
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Case Reports
Diagnosis of adult respiratory distress syndrome associated with underlying severe emphysema.
Adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) notably produces bilateral homogeneous alveolar infiltrates and decreased lung compliance. We encountered a patient whose severe underlying emphysema altered these distinctive clinical features. ⋯ We suggest that the pathologic features of the emphysematous lung with multiple blebs and decreased elastic recoil properties impart these unique findings. When ARDS develops in a patient with severe underlying emphysema, an atypical presentation may produce a confusing clinical picture.
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Asymptomatic hypoglycemia was demonstrated in 15 of 30 cirrhotic patients with septicemia. Blood glucose levels were measured daily in these patients. ⋯ Hypoglycemia is a common complication of septic shock in patients with cirrhosis, and blood glucose levels should be systematically measured in cirrhotic patients with septicemia or shock. Septicemia should be considered in any cirrhosis patient with a low blood glucose level.
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Comparative Study
Arterial blood pressure in adults with sickle cell disease.
Arterial blood pressures (BPs) in 187 adult patients with sickle cell disease, casually recorded during hospitalization or clinic visits, were compared with BPs from age- and sex-matched populations of black Americans. The BPs in those with sickle cell disease were significantly lower than those in the control populations in all ages and did not demonstrate the expected rise with advancing age. ⋯ The prevalence of hypertension was significantly less than that in the block population. These BP findings in sickle cell disease may be due to the renal tubular defect responsible for increased sodium and water excretion, which may blunt the plasma volume expansion necessary for sustained hypertension and thus promote lower arterial pressures, similar to that situation observed in patients with salt-losing nephritis.