Brought to you by MedPage Today. 1. Emotions Run High Over Value of HPV Vax. There was a battle last week among those who commented on the survey question about human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. 2. New Kidney Function Tied to Vitamin D Status. Low vitamin D after a kidney transplant is associated with worse kidney function and increased fibrosis. 3. Vaccine-Autism ...

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Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 51-year-old man is being followed in the hospital after receiving chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia 1 day ago. Kidney function was normal at the start of his treatment, which consisted of normal saline at a rate of 200 mL/h and rasburicase on the day of chemotherapy. He reports no symptoms except for some ...

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We need greater access to home hemodialysis As a doctor who also happens to be an end stage renal disease (ESRD) patient, I appreciate this opportunity to reflect on the great strides that have been made to improve the lives of ESRD patients and the steps that still need to be taken to make sure kidney patients have access to the best dialysis treatment possible and the best chance ...

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If these are your final days, how do you want to spend them? When I first lay eyes on Marilyn, I don’t think she will survive another week. Eighty-nine years old with short, curly gray hair, she sits in a wheelchair in the examination room. According to the nursing sheet, she weighs one-hundred and nine pounds. She wears a bulky white sweater over a gray dress that seems too big for her tiny body.  Her ...

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That was Virginia’s second visit to the hospital in the ten days of the new year. It also ended up being the last. Virginia was a patient we all knew. She came to the hospital frequently. The aphorism of our intern year was, if you had not taken care of Virginia once, you were not going to graduate out of internship. And that was hardly an exaggeration- almost no one in ...

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This series is brought to you by MedPage Today. 1. Depression After Stroke Boosts Death Risk. Similar to patients with myocardial infarction (MI), depression is associated with worse outcomes in patients with stroke. 2. Doc Shortage May Be Smaller Than Projected. The projected shortage in the nation's primary care physician work force may be overstated, and any that does develop can be eliminated with ...

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This series is brought to you by MedPage Today. 1. Court: Off-Label Drug Marketing Is 'Free Speech'. A decision by a federal appeals court this week could have a dramatic impact on the marketing of prescription drugs in America, potentially affecting patient care and everything from TV advertising to future government prosecutions which, in the past, had yielded billions of dollars in settlements. 2.
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I pulled the stifling surgical mask off my face as I left my last patient’s room. I had just finished suturing a complicated facial laceration and was bone-tired from the evening. Glancing at the clock, I saw that mercifully, my shift was over. Collapsing into my chair to finish up my charting, I was slightly annoyed when my nurse held a clip-board in front of my face, “Here is your next ...

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More than 40 years ago as a third year medical student, I recall the Chief of Medicine praising a fellow student for his rare diagnosis of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria in a patient who had presented with the common symptom of “painless hematuria.” The lesson was not lost on any of us: good medicine means an expansive differential diagnosis and an even longer list of tests (including expensive ones) to “rule them ...

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Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 62-year-old man is evaluated for a 2-month history of progressive fatigue, dyspnea on exertion, anorexia, and nausea. He has no other medical problems and takes no medications. On physical examination, temperature is normal, blood pressure is 157/88 mm Hg, pulse rate is 86/min, and respiration rate is 22/min. BMI is 31. The conjunctivae are ...

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