Clin Med
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Two weeks after starting the oral contraceptive pill, a 16-year-old girl developed increasingly violent chorea and an evolving psychosis with prominent hallucinations, ideas of reference, and paranoia. An erythematous skin rash subsequently developed and Sydenham's chorea (SC) was diagnosed. ⋯ This case illustrates that severe psychotic features can occur in SC. It is recommended that antistreptolysin O titres and antibasal ganglia antibodies are checked early in patients with evolving movement disorders and prominent neuropsychiatric features, as the window for modifying the course of this immune-mediated disorder may be narrow.
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Biography Historical Article
'A ray of darkness': Margiad Evans's account of her epilepsy (1952).
This column explores the links and synergies between medicine and literature. What roles can literature play in reflecting and influencing good practice, and what sorts of images of doctoring are to be found in drama, poetry, fiction, biography, electronic fora and film? The editors would be pleased to receive short papers, ranging from 500–1,000 words, on relevant topics. Those interested in contributing should email brian.hurwitz@kcl.ac.uk or neil.vickers@kcl.ac.uk
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Every year in the 27 member states of the European Union, patients are harmed when receiving healthcare. Sometimes this is the fault of individual or multiple healthcare workers but more often than not organisational or system failures are to blame. The injuries and deaths from unsafe healthcare can never be completely eradicated. ⋯ Patient safety is an area of healthcare where economies of scales can be achieved through a European Community approach to tackling the problems. Share experiences, expertise, best practice and research findings can help member states to improve the safety of their health systems. This is why the European Commission put forward its patient safety proposal at the end of 2008.