Cardiovascular Disease

An 87-year-old woman complained ofseeing a red tinge on the wallpaper inher house through her right eye. Thepatient had mild memory loss andmoderate hypertension, for whichshe took atenolol. She had quit smokingcigarettes many years earlier.

During an annual eye examination, a 65-year-old womanwith a 5-year history of type 2 insulin-dependent diabetescomplained that her vision had slightly worsened in botheyes. Her best corrected visual acuity was 20/30 in botheyes.

Sudden profound vision loss in her left eye prompted an82-year-old woman to seek evaluation. She also complainedof “just not feeling well” and reported new-onsettemporal and occipital headaches of 6 weeks’ duration.

A 49-year-old woman presented for aroutine eye examination. She had nohistory of systemic disease and tookno medications.

Q:Which combinations of antihypertensivemedications are most effective-and which arebest avoided?

Examine patients’ carotid arteries immediatelyafter you examine theirlungs.

Diffuse petechiae suddenly arose on the back and abdomen of a 79-year-old woman. Within several days, the asymptomatic lesions covered her arms and face as well.

A healthy 32-year-old scuba diver was taken to the emergency department (ED). He had lost consciousness following a dive in which he had held his breath during a rapid ascent to the surface and had performed the Valsalva maneuver to clear his ears.

A slightly pruritic, red, scaly rash on an 8-year-old boy’shands has been progressively worsening since it appeared4 months earlier. Nail pitting also was noted. There are noother rashes on his body. The patient is active in sports;denies any new exposure to soaps, clothing, or other contactants;and spends time in the homes of his recently divorcedparents.

An obese 55-year-old woman had intermittent dysuria and frequent urination for 4 days and fever, abdominal pain, and vomiting for 3 days. Her history included type 1 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and angina; her medications included insulin, nifedipine, and nitroglycerin.

Pyoderma Gangrenosum belongs in the differential diagnosis of lower extremity vasculitis-like ulcerating lesions.

Twenty-four hours after a car accident, a 47-year-old man with chronic low back pain-which had been diagnosed years earlier as "arthritis" of the spine-presented with back and chest pain and requested an opioid analgesic. The patient had a history of alcoholism and illicit drug use. Tenderness of the thoracic area was noted.

A 59-year-old man, who was unable to walk, was brought to the emergency department with severe leg pain, worsening weakness, increasing fatigue, chills, and fever of 3 days' duration. The symptoms began after a round of golf. In addition to the leg pain, which particularly affected the calf muscles, the lower extremities were red and swollen.

A 77-year-old African American man with type 2 diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease presented to the emergency department with acute scrotal swelling and pain. His testicles were erythematous with focal areas of necrosis and associated tissue destruction. Similar skin changes were apparent in the lower abdominal and inguinal regions.

A 63-year-old woman presents withdiffuse hyperkeratosis of the solesand palms. She also has onycholysis-separation of the nail plate fromthe nail bed-and salmon-coloredplaques behind her ears. Biopsy ofone of the plaques confirms the suspecteddiagnosis of psoriasis.

A middle-aged man with"jock itch" that has failed torespond to antifungal creams.An older woman who has diffusehyperkeratosis of predominantlyweight-bearing surfaces.A young man with mildlypruritic, small, salmon pinkpapules and thick white scaleon his trunk and arms.

A 30-year-old man presents with scalingand erythema of the scalp that extendspast the anterior hairline. Thepatient has a family history of psoriasis.For the past 5 years, he has experiencedwintertime flares of the diseasethat affect his scalp and the extensorsurfaces of the extremities.

A 46-year-old man complains that his"jock itch" failed to respond to antifungalcreams. The patient has hadpsoriasis on his elbows and knees formany years.

A 72-year-old man presents with skinlesions and nail abnormalities. Erythematous,sharply defined, demarcatedpapules and rounded plaquescovered by silvery micaceous scaleare noted on the elbows, knees, andscalp. Involved areas appear to be bilaterallysymmetric. Localized psoriasisvulgaris is diagnosed.

4A:Small, slightly pruritic, salmonpink papules with thick white scalehave arisen over the past 5 days onthe trunk and arms of a 24-year-oldman. The patient has a history ofvery mild psoriasis vulgaris of the elbows,knees, and scalp; he deniesstreptococcal pharyngitis or other recentinfections. Guttate psoriasis isdiagnosed.

Focal, painless discoloration of theleft thumbnail (A) developed severalyears earlier in this 46-year-old man.Oral antifungal therapy had no effecton the lesion.

A 35-year-old man presents with extensiveplaques over much of thetrunk and extremities. This severeflare of psoriasis developed after astressful emotional experience.

A 60-year-old man with a long historyof psoriasis vulgaris required a systemiccorticosteroid for a severe exacerbationof asthma. Soon after theErythrodermic or Pustular Psoriasiscorticosteroid was discontinued, generalizederythema and scaling of theskin developed.

A 67-year-old woman, who had hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, presented to the emergency department with mild abdominal discomfort and shortness of breath.

A 40-year-old man presented with a 5-year history of progressively increasing bilateral leg swelling that was neither painful nor pruritic. There was no history of dyspnea, jaundice, or groin surgery. The patient reported multiple previous episodes of superimposed cellulitis, which were treated with antibiotics. There was no family history of similar illness.

For several days, a 60-year-old woman has had fever, myalgias,fatigue, poor appetite, and diminished oral intake. Shedenies cough, sputum production, and urinary symptoms.

A 75-year-old man was brought to the emergency department with fever, cough, and abdominal pain of 2 days’ duration. The pain was most severe in the epigastric and umbilical regions. The patient’s history included type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia. He had smoked cigarettes for 40 years and recently lost 50 lb. The patient was tachypneic and diaphoretic.

The Geriatric Depression Scale is the most widelyvalidated screening tool. The questionnaire has beenreduced to a single question that is as sensitive and as specificas the 15-item shortened form of the original 30-itemscale. The question is: "How often do you feel sad or depressed?'This is certainly something that is easy to ask inthe course of a general physical examination or routine officevisit.

A 60-year-old man presented to the emergency department (ED) with fever of 1 day’s duration and midabdominal pain. The cramping pain had begun 3 days earlier in a bandlike distribution around the upper abdomen. Ingestion of food exacerbated the discomfort. The patient had a history of intermittent constipation; he denied alcohol or illicit drug use, nausea, vomiting, and weight loss. He did not use any herbal or over-the-counter medications.

A 40-year-old man presented to the emergency department with moderate to severe pain over the left lateral wrist. Earlier in the day, an iron rod had accidentally struck his wrist. The patient’s history included chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension, and social anxiety disorder.