Background: Anemia in patients with heart failure (HF) is common. Data reported shows a variable prevalence ranging from 10-40%. Additionally, it has also been demonstrated that it is associated with poor outcomes. Multiple risk factors have been shown to contribute to the presence of anemia in HF patients. The population of the Rio Grande Valley [...]

Background: Fatigability describes how fatigued a patient is at any given level of activity, and is measured as the degree of fatigue a patient experiences after performing a specific amount of activity. The National Institute of Aging has suggested that fatigability is an important measure in patients with conditions where fatigue is a prominent symptom, [...]

Background: Anemia is common in patients with HF with a prevalence ranging from 10-40%. Studies have shown that these patients have worse outcomes compared to those who don’t. The most common etiology remains iron deficiency and the updated 2017 HF guidelines state that for those patients who are diagnosed with iron deficiency anemia, intravenous iron [...]

Background: The practice of routinely ordering daily labs not based on clinical indication on patients in the hospital is a wasteful clinical practice. Routine daily labs can also lead to patient harm by causing pain and iatrogenic anemia, and can burden laboratory staff resulting in increased lab reporting times. Raising awareness about unnecessary lab orders [...]

Case Presentation: A previously healthy 12 month old presented to the emergency department with three weeks of progressively worsening generalized edema and one week of fatigue and pallor. Patient was born at term, and growth and development had been appropriate. Mother had stopped breastfeeding several weeks prior to presentation, just before patient’s first birthday. Patient’s [...]

Case Presentation: A 21-year-old female with history of IgG immune deficiency requiring intravenous immunoglobulin transfusions from the age of 12-17 presented to our service with one-week complaint of dizziness and fatigue. At presentation, she reported dyspnea, chest pain, intermittent palpitations, and nausea. She had had a brief pre-syncopal episode and an episode of nausea and [...]

Case Presentation: A 37 year-old man presented with altered mental status and a headache after a motor vehicle collision where he was a restrained driver while intoxicated with alcohol. He had a known history of glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PD). Exam was notable for superficial abrasions on bilateral upper and lower extremities, diffuse generalized abdominal tenderness to [...]

Case Presentation: A 27-year old African American male presented with 3 months of bilateral inguinal lymph node enlargement, fevers, night sweats, fatigue, and weight loss. Patient presented for outpatient nodal biopsy and subsequently sent to the ED with severe thrombocytopenia with platelets less than 10,000 and complaints of gum bleeding and petechiae of 3 days. [...]

Case Presentation: A 76 year-old male with a history of diverticulitis, T2DM, HTN, persistent atrial fibrillation and compensated alcoholic cirrhosis presented for recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB). He initially presented to an outside hospital six months prior for shortness of breath and found to be anemic requiring 4 units of packed red blood cells (PRBCs). Since [...]

Case Presentation: A 64 year old man with a history of membranous nephropathy on tacrolimus and recent cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM) repair, with stent placement seven months prior, presented to the emergency room with one day of progressive lethargy, frontal headache, photophobia, and confusion with subjective fevers and nausea.His vitals on presentation were significant for [...]