Published in Clinical Medicine
Haemolytic anaemia can seem like a complicated topic. The constellation of reticulocytosis, increased lactate dehydrogenase levels, increased unconjugated bilirubin levels and decreased haptoglobin levels should prompt general physicians to consider haemolysis as a differential diagnosis. When further approaching haemolytic anaemia, subdividing pat...
Published in Clinical Medicine
Background There is a lack of data on the safety of providing oxygen at home to stable patients recovering from COVID-19. Methods A retrospective analysis of patients discharged to a COVID-19 virtual ward (CVW) between January 2021 and March 2021 at a UK district general hospital was performed. Patients with improving clinical trajectories and oxyg...
Published in Clinical Medicine
Introduction A proportion of patients with lung cancer will not be suitable for anti-cancer treatment and are managed with best supportive care (BSC). The aim of this retrospective case series analysis was to critically review the use of diagnostic and staging investigations in patients who were ultimately managed with BSC. Methods A retrospective ...
Published in Clinical Medicine
A 60-year-old woman presented with sudden-onset epigastric pain, vomiting and small volume rectal bleeding. She had a history of mechanical mitral valve replacement, for which she was on warfarin. Computed tomography (CT) angiography of the abdomen showed gallstones, a fluid-filled stomach and faecal loading. She subsequently deteriorated with wors...
Published in Clinical Medicine
A 40-year-old man attended the emergency room with abdominal pain and inappropriate behaviour associated with stress, and the consumption of alcohol and cannabis. Examination revealed hypertension (155/100 mmHg), tachycardia (95 beats per minute), abdominal pain and leucocytosis with neutrophilia, hyponatraemia and hypokalaemia. Urine was positive ...
Published in Clinical Medicine
Accelerated coronary artery disease seen following radiation exposure is termed ‘radiation-induced coronary artery disease’ (RICAD) and results from both the direct and indirect effects of radiation exposure. Long-term data are available from survivors of nuclear explosions and accidents, nuclear workers as well as from radiotherapy patients. The l...
Published in Clinical Medicine
Pneumomediastinum and pneumothorax are recognised complications encountered in COVID-19 before or during invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). The clinical course of patients developing pneumomediastinum before IMV is yet to be evaluated. Four-thousand, one-hundred and thirty-one patients hospitalised with COVID-19 over a 12-month period were retr...
Published in Clinical Medicine
New thrombocytopenia may be associated with a variety of conditions and diagnosis can be challenging. Presentation can vary from life-threatening bleeding or thrombosis to an incidental finding in an asymptomatic patient. New thrombocytopenia requires urgent investigation. Investigations are mainly guided by findings from the clinical history, phys...
Published in Clinical Medicine
Background Evidence and guidelines increasingly support an individualised approach to care for people with type 2 diabetes and individualisation of glycaemic targets in response to patient factors. Methods We undertook a scoping review of the literature for evidence of factors impacting upon glycated haemoglobin target individualisation in adults w...
Published in Clinical Medicine
Objective To determine the maximal response of the temperature and inflammatory response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and how these are modified by age. Methods Participants were patients admitted to hospital with SARS-CoV-2 infection. For each participant, the maximal temperature and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) were identified and stratified by age....
