Background: The CHADS2 score is widely used risk stratification model for stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The impact of height and other anthropometric measurements on the risk of stroke in patients with low CHADS2 score is yet to be identified. We aimed to evaluate the association between height and stroke in AF patients with [...]

Background: As the volume of inpatient clinical support tasks (non-direct patient care tasks) has increased, there has been increasing frustration amongst the internal medicine residents at our institution with the efficiency and educational value of their inpatient internal medicine ward experience. This is consistent with similar frustrations amongst trainees and hospitalists across the country. “You [...]

Case Presentation: A 47-year-old woman with lupus presented with one week of urinary frequency and dysuria. Over the prior year, she had pelvic pain, night sweats, 20 pounds of unintentional weight loss, and eight episodes of pan-susceptible E. coli urinary tract infections (UTIs), each successfully treated. Her chronic medications were prednisone, hydroxychloroquine, and azathioprine.A computed [...]

Background: Prolonged immobility during hospitalization is associated with development of hospital-associated disability (HAD) and physical deconditioning. Physical therapy (PT) is important for HAD treatment and prevention but is a constrained resource in most hospital settings and planned sessions can be difficult to complete. Missing planned PT sessions, known as “PT non-treatment”, may compromise patient’s functional [...]

Case Presentation: Our patient is a 74-year-old male with a history of thrombocytopenia thought secondary to ITP, hypothyroidism, and prior spontaneous coronary artery dissection requiring cardiac bypass who was transferred from an outside hospital for acute kidney injury and abdominal distention. A few weeks prior to admission, the patient experienced congestion, cough and low-grade fever [...]

Case Presentation: An otherwise healthy 31 years old Brazilian male presented to the hospital with two months history of constitutional symptoms, diffuse pruritic rash on torso and extremities, and diffuse lymphadenopathy. He lived with his wife and daughter, and most recent travel to Brazil was three months ago. His father has diabetes and mother died [...]

Case Presentation: A 49 year old man with AIDS on anti-retroviral therapy (CD4 count 113) presented to the hospital with dizziness, abdominal pain, and generalized fatigue and malaise. He developed fever as high as 39.9 degree Celsius shortly after admission along with anemia and thrombocytopenia. The patient underwent complete infectious workup including viral and atypical [...]

Case Presentation: A 37-year-old Asian-American woman with a past medical history significant for PCOS, HPV, HSV- 1, iron malabsorption/deficiency, and vitamin B12 deficiency-related anemia presented to the ED with body aches, fever, fatigue, cough, and recurrent URI for the past 3 months. Following treatment, she presented two weeks later to the hematology clinic for scheduled [...]

Case Presentation: A 24 year-old woman with history of breast cancer status post mastectomy and adjuvant chemoradiation therapy presented with one week of fevers and cervical lymph node enlargement. On presentation, she was febrile with a temperature of 38.7⁰C. Physical exam was notable for tender, firm, bilateral posterior cervical chain lymphadenopathy up to 1cm. WBC [...]

Case Presentation: A 68-year-old Spanish speaking female with a history of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), in remission, and autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) presented to the ED with left sided neck pain, edema, and hoarseness. These symptoms had been present for the past four months despite three courses of antibiotics. Steroids given in the ED improved [...]