Background: Distrust of the healthcare system is longstanding in Black communities. This may especially threaten the health of the population when a highly contagious infection strikes. Perceptions, knowledge, and personal safety practices related to COVID-19 are unknown among hospitalized Black patients who distrust the healthcare system. Methods: Black patients hospitalized patients were surveyed between November [...]

Background: As of 2020, COVID-19 is the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer. COVID-19 accounted for more than a million hospitalization in the USA since the onset of the pandemic. Our aim is to investigate the impact of racial disparities on the outcome of COVID-19 admissions. Methods: We queried the National [...]

Case Presentation: We present a case of a 20-year old male with past medical history of polysubstance abuse and major depressive disorder who was found unresponsive by his roommate in the morning after black tar heroin use. Roommate injected Narcan without effect and called EMS. Roommate reported both the patient and himself were chronic heroin [...]

Case Presentation: We describe a 59-year-old male patient with a medical history of coronary artery disease, multiple sclerosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and ischemic stroke. He presented with symptoms including fever, altered mental status, and a rapid heart rate. Initial assessments revealed an elevated white blood cell count, lactic acidosis, acute kidney injury, and signs [...]

Case Presentation: A 52-year-old male presented with one week of abdominal pain, myalgia, and diarrhea. The patient was referred to our Emergency Department after outpatient testing revealed an increase in serum creatinine to 11 mg/dL from 0.7 mg/dL six months prior.The patient had medical history of hypertension, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and former alcohol use disorder. [...]

Case Presentation: A 60-year-old male presented to the emergency department with a one day history of emesis, dysphagia, and odynophagia. He endorsed pain in the middle thoracic esophageal region which was worse with swallowing. Initially, his emesis was non-bloody, then subsequent episodes resulted in small amounts of bright red blood. Past medical history was pertinent for alcohol [...]

Case Presentation: A 36-year-old man presented with a one-month history of fevers, night sweats, low back pain, and an enlarging nodule on his back. Physical exam revealed left axillary adenopathy, diminished breath sounds at bilateral bases, and an irregularly shaped 10 cm pigmented lesion (image 1) on his left posterior hemithorax. Labs were notable for [...]

Case Presentation: Acute esophageal necrosis (AEN) is a rare condition which presents as acute-onset gastrointestinal bleeding. AEN is associated with vasculitis, coronary artery disease, malignancy, and other conditions which impair maintenance of the esophageal protective barrier. Complications of AEN include esophageal rupture, perforation, stricture formation, and mediastinitis. A 64-year-old Caucasian female with an extensive past [...]

Case Presentation: A 44-year-old male with a past medical history of psoriatic arthritis [on Guselkumab], asthma presented to the ED with worsening shortness of breath for 10 days and midsternal chest pain for 3 days. He tested positive for COVID-19 one week before and received monoclonal antibodies 2 days before presentation. He had COVID-19 infection [...]

Case Presentation: A 58-year-old man with a history of hypertension, type 2 diabetes with non-adherence to insulin, GERD, and daily alcohol use presented to the emergency department for three days of epigastric abdominal pain and vomiting. He had previously experienced two months of worsening nausea and epigastric fullness with eating accompanied by a 30-pound unintentional [...]