Background: There is literature to suggest there is a subtype of COPD patients in which eosinophils may play an important role. Data suggests that this subset of patient are more prone to develop exacerbations, but also have a higher likelihood of responding to inhaled corticosteroid therapy. The objective of this study is to determine if […]

Background: On the nonteaching service at a large metropolitan teaching hospital, hospitalists were frustrated by inefficient pager‐based communication from nurses frequently consisting of “call back number only” pages in which no other information was communicated such as the person calling, the patient name, the reason for call, or the urgency of the issue at hand. […]

Background: Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) is an opportunistic infection associated with lymphopenic conditions including HIV/AIDS, hematologic malignancy1, organ transplantation2, and lymphocyte-suppressive therapies such as high dose glucocorticoids3,4. PJP prophylaxis, which is highly effective, is indicated when the incidence of PJP exceeds the rate of adverse events due to prophylaxis.4,7 Guidelines from the American Thoracic Society […]

Case Presentation: A 71‐year‐old man with stage IV chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), hypertension, and diabetes mellitus was admitted to the hospital medicine service for the evaluation of 2 weeks of generalized weakness, anorexia, and mild abdominal pain. He was found to have a lactate level of 10.4. The medical team began to investigate the etiology […]

Case Presentation: A 78-year-old woman with severe persistent asthma on a maximum dose of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) was admitted for lethargy and skin nodules on her thighs. She had three hospital admissions in the past two months for reported pneumonia. She was found to have fever, left basilar crackles, and multiple violaceous, firm, tender subcutaneous […]

Case Presentation: A 78-year-old woman with severe persistent asthma on a maximum dose of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) was admitted for lethargy and skin nodules on her thighs. She had three hospital admissions in the past two months for reported pneumonia. She was found to have fever, left basilar crackles, and multiple violaceous, firm, tender subcutaneous […]

Case Presentation: A 67‐year‐old man with no known past medical history presented to Beth Israel Medical Center with a one week history of right leg pain and thigh swelling. He denied any recent trauma, IV drug use or recent travel within the past three months. Physical examination revealed erythema, warmth, increased right thigh swelling and […]

Case Presentation: A 20-year-old male with past history of asthma presented initially with bloody diarrhea and subjective fever of one day’s duration. Upon evaluation vital signs revealed temperature of 103 F, and tachycardia. On physical examination there was generalized abdominal tenderness with normal bowel sounds. Thrombocytopenia was present with platelet count of 46 k/ul. Antibiotics […]

Case Presentation: A 32 year‐old man presented with worsening exertional dyspnea. Medical history was notable for asthma; diagnosed at age 8. His only medication was an albuterol inhaler which he had not used for >5 years because it “didn’t work well.” He denied allergies, smoking or drug use. Vital signs were normal and examination was […]

Case Presentation: A previously healthy 38-year-old man presented with 8 days of intermittent colicky RUQ pain and jaundice. He denied any OTC or illicit drug use but did report daily alcohol use. On admission HAV, HBV, HCV, and HIV 1 & 2 screening, urine drug screen, and autoimmune workup were negative. Ceruloplasmin, serum copper, serum […]