The appearance of a wound on the hand of a 102-year-old man concerned his nursing home's staff. Several months earlier, the patient had had a squamous cell carcinoma removed from the wound site and had undergone subsequent radiotherapy. A nonhealing skin ulcer developed at the site; a skin graft was performed.
A 15-year-old boy had been experiencing pain in his distal left leg for 7 months. There was mild swelling, and an x-ray film of the lower leg revealed a sharply marginated, vertically oriented, tubular lucency in the metaphysis of the tibia (A). There was no cortical destruction, periosteal reaction, or pathologic fracture. An MRI at high field strength was performed to narrow the differential diagnosis.
Fourteen months of intermittent, foul-smelling, perianal discharge prompted a 45-year-old man to seek medical evaluation. He also complained of occasional bright red rectal bleeding and soreness of the perianal region; he denied fever. The patient had undergone surgical drainage for episodes of perianal sepsis 2 years earlier.
A pruritic rash developed on the feet of a 40-year-old woman 2 days after she had worn a new pair of shoes for a few hours. The erythematous, papular, scaly eruption was more prominent on the right foot.
For 1 month, a 25-year-old woman had experienced discomfort in and around the left eye and diplopia. She was in good health; she reported no weight loss, excessive nervousness, heat intolerance, decreased strength, changes in the texture of hair or skin, or altered bowel habits. There was no personal or family history of goiter or other thyroid disease.
A 32-year-old man who was seropositive for HIV presented with a tender lesion on his right foot of about 3 months' duration. The patient's only medication was zidovudine. His CD4+ cell count was 120/μL.
A 48-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital with deep venous thrombosis of the right leg. She had a history of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which was in remission. The patient had been a heavy smoker for many years.
After 5 weeks of undulating fever, weight loss, and night sweats, a 22-year-old man presented to the emergency department. He reported no significant medical history. The patient had recently completed a course of tetracycline followed by another of azithromycin for a presumed upper respiratory tract infection.
After 4 days of fever and a very sore throat, an 18-year-old man requested medical treatment. The patient's speech was barely intelligible because of the fullness in his throat. He was able to communicate, however, that he had great difficulty swallowing because of the throat pain and fullness.
Five days before this 1-year-old girl was brought to her doctor's office, a rash had developed on her left shoulder and the left side of her chest. The abrupt onset of a high fever (temperature, 41°C [105.8°F]) and irritability accompanied the outbreak of the rash. The child had a history of asthma and eczema.
Painful eczematous lesions at the angle of her mouth and the base of her nostrils had been bothering a 52-year-old woman for 3 days. Some of the vesicles had ulcerated and left a crust over the region. The patient said she had had similar attacks in the past. The diagnosis of recurrent herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV 1) infection was made. The patient was treated with acyclovir for 1 week, and all the lesions disappeared.
A 47-year-old woman from Southeast Asia presented with erythematous, asymmetric, anesthetic, sharply marginated plaques on her lower arms and hands. Because this patient had emigrated from a tropical climate, leprosy was suspected.
A 45-year-old man sought medical advice after suffering for 6 months with recurrent pain and a purulent discharge at the sacrococcygeal region. Two weeks before this consultation, an abscess on the patient's right buttock had been drained by another physician. The patient had insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus for 5 years; his medical history was otherwise unremarkable.
A 32-year-old man who had no significant medical history complained of “something growing on the knuckles of my right hand.” He reported that a “bump” was forming on the site of a cut he sustained while slaughtering sheep 3 weeks earlier. There was no blister, discharge, or pain. The patient denied any fever, cough, or malaise. He also did not recall seeing any lesions or “bumps” on the sheep.
A 40-year-old dental assistant requested a prescription for antibiotics to treat the acute outbreak of painful, deep blisters that had recurred on her index finger. Prior eruptions of similar lesions had been diagnosed as staphylococcal infections and were treated with antibiotics.
Two enlarging, dry, tender lesions had developed on the right breast of a 62-year-old woman 2 years before she sought medical consultation. The patient had no other symptoms; she was taking metoprolol succinate for cardiac arrhythmias.
Following a cholecystectomy, an indwelling urethral catheter was placed in a 51-year-old woman with urinary retention. Five days later, the patient complained of a burning sensation at the site. A rounded, swollen, hemorrhagic area surrounding the catheter was noted, and a urinary tract infection was diagnosed.
This 27-year-old man complained that a facial rash of several years' duration had worsened during the past few months. Hypopigmented macules with scale were especially prominent on the eyebrows and in the nasolabial folds; a moderate amount of scale was noted on the scalp. The patient was seropositive for HIV.
A 32-year-old man who had HIV disease complained of headache, fever, and weakness on his right side. His history included intravenous drug use, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, and mucocutaneous candidiasis.
Bleeding gums for the past 2 days was the complaint of this 22-year-old woman. She is HIV-positive but has been clinically asymptomatic. Her CD4 lymphocyte count is 84/μL, and her viral load is 160,885 copies/mL. Despite maintaining good oral hygiene, she has a distinct fiery red band along the gingival margin.
During the assessment of an 83-year-old man who had an infected arteriovenous graft, chest films showed a masslike density in the lower right hemithorax.
For 3 days, a 23-year-old woman had been bothered by pruritic vaginal and vulvar lesions. A cheesy white vaginal discharge was associated with the itching.
The parents of a 2-year-old boy with a 3-day history of fever took him to the emergency department. The child's temperature fluctuated between 38°C (100.4°F) and 39°C (102.2°F). As part of the workup, chest films were taken.
A 32-year-old man was brought to the emergency department after being stabbed in the right side of the neck with a broken piece of glass. The patient immediately underwent carotid angiography; the findings were normal.
A 79-year-old nursing home resident was hospitalized for evaluation of hyperkalemia and leukocytosis. Her medical history included hypertension, respiratory failure with subsequent tracheostomy placement and ventilator dependency, and anemia. Both of her legs had been amputated above the knee secondary to complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
