Background: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused a staggering 200 million cases with over 4 million deaths globally as of August 2021. COVID-19 is associated with lung inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis. Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are used to improve lung function by reducing inflammation, edema, mucus secretion, and inhibiting various cytokine activities. However, there is […]

Background: In 2020, melanoma exhibited the 5th highest incidence rate of all cancers in the US. While metastatic melanoma constitutes only 4% of new melanoma cases, the 5-year survival rate of metastatic melanoma is 27% [1]. Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (ICIs) were the first drugs to significantly improve the 5-year survival of late-stage melanoma patients; these […]

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute viral illness affecting multiple systems caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Ever since its first detection in Wuhan, China in Nov 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has infected over 220 million people causing more than 4.5 million deaths worldwide and the numbers are increasing. [1] Dexamethasone, a steroid […]

Case Presentation: Lupus nephritis (LN) is a clinical manifestation of SLE that can be histologically categorized from class I-VI. One form of LN that is not included in the classification is lupus podocytopathy (LP). LP is a somewhat rare manifestation of SLE associated nephrotic syndrome that mimics minimal change disease (MCD) and is diagnosed via […]

Case Presentation: A 50-year-old Hispanic male with osteoarthritis on chronic steroids of unknown dose from Mexico and type II diabetes mellitus was admitted to the hospital for generalized weakness and fall with questionable loss of consciousness. Physical examination revealed verrucous and nodular lesions on his right arm, posterior neck, and left thumb, but was otherwise […]

Case Presentation: A 60-year-old farmer with a past medical history significant for antiphospholipid syndrome, atrial fibrillation (AF), and longstanding rheumatoid arthritis on infliximab therapy presented to the ED with weakness and dyspnea. History from family and recent rheumatology visit revealed a history of non-compliance and self-injection with livestock glucocorticoids due to self-diagnosed rheumatoid vasculitis and […]

Case Presentation: A 37-year-old female with Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) presented with new-onset elevated blood pressure. She was on medium to high dose Corticosteroids (CS) a month prior to admission. Her significant vitals on admission included a heart rate of 103 and blood pressure of 193/97. Labs showed hemoglobin 9.6, sodium 130, BUN 63, creatinine (Cr) […]