Background: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) of the inferior vena cava (IVC) can help to noninvasively predict the effectiveness of treatment for volume-sensitive conditions, such as acute heart failure and shock. Recently POCUS-IVC has also been used to iteratively tailor fluid treatment to patient-specific targets. In real-world clinical settings, such iterative assessments are necessarily obtained by multiple [...]

Background: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) of the inferior vena cava (IVC) can help to noninvasively predict the effectiveness of treatment for volume-sensitive conditions, such as acute heart failure and shock. Recently POCUS-IVC has also been used to iteratively tailor fluid treatment to patient-specific targets. In real-world clinical settings, such iterative assessments are necessarily obtained by multiple [...]

Case Presentation: A 58-year-old-woman with no significant past medical history presented to her primary care physician with bilateral lower extremity edema. She was treated with compression stockings but returned after four months without improvement. She was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency and referred to a vascular surgeon for a superficial venous ablation, which was ineffective. [...]

Background: D-dimer is clinically useful for its high sensitivity and negative predictive value as a useful “rule out” test for venous thromboembolism. Nevertheless, the D-dimer assay is not specific and often elevated in states of systemic inflammation or illness.Stasis of blood flow, Endothelial injury, and hypercoagulability are the tenets of thrombus formation. When any one [...]

Background: The integration of Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) in clinical settings has been progressively recognized for its potential in improving patient outcomes. Our study introduces the Admission POCUS Examination (Apex) protocol, a comprehensive POCUS-based approach designed to optimize patient care at the point of admission in hospital medicine wards. Methods: This retrospective study involved [...]

Case Presentation: A 31-year-old woman, G2P1A0, 32 weeks pregnant, with a history of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), presented with a gradual onset of worsening abdominal wall, genitalia, and bilateral lower extremity swelling. Upon admission, the workup revealed nephrotic-range proteinuria, normal renal function, and elevated anti-dsDNA. A lower extremity ultrasound showed no evidence of deep vein [...]