A comprehensive review of obstructive sleep apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a complex disorder characterized by collapse of the upper airway during sleep. Downstream effects involve the cardiovascular, pulmonary, and neurocognitive systems. OSA is more prevalent in men than women.

Electrocardiographic Associations Seen with Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a chronic respiratory disorder associated with repeated nocturnal partial or complete collapse that is often underdiagnosed and associated with multiple comorbidities. The association between specific features on an electrocardiogram and OSA has not been well studied. This retrospective study attempts to bridge this gap in knowledge.

Jet lag: Heuristics and therapeutics.

Jet lag is one of those common medical problems, to which most people don't give a serious thought. However, it is intricately intertwined with our normal circadian rhythm. It is classified as a sleep disorder.

A comparison between two types of indwelling pleural catheters for management of malignant pleural effusions.

Background: Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a common cause of quality of life deterioration in patients with advanced cancer. Management options include chemical pleurodesis with a sclerosing agent such as doxycycline or talc powder, surgery, and also the placement of tunneled indwelling pleural catheters (IPCs). Two different IPC types are mostly used in the USA.

Electrocardiogram Changes with Acute Alcohol Intoxication: A Systematic Review.

Background: Acute alcohol intoxication has been associated with cardiac arrhythmias but the electrocardiogram (ECG) changes associated with acute alcohol intoxication are not well defined in the literature.

Objective: Highlight the best evidence regarding the ECG changes associated with acute alcohol intoxication in otherwise healthy patients and the pathophysiology of the changes.

Methods: A literature search was carried out; 4 studies relating to ECG changes with acute alcohol intoxication were included in this review.

Results of a Quality Improvement Project Aimed at Eliminating Healthcare Waste by Changing Medical Resident Test Ordering Behavior.

Background: In light of rising healthcare costs and evidence of inefficient use of medical resources, there is growing interest in reducing healthcare waste by clinicians. Unwarranted lab tests may lead to further tests, prolonged hospital stays, unnecessary referrals and procedures, patient discomfort, and iatrogenic anemia, resulting in significant economic and clinical effects. Blood tests are essential in guiding medical decisions, but they are also associated with significant financial and clinical costs.

Splenic and Kidney Infarct: Sequelae of Subacute Bacterial Endocarditis.

Infective endocarditis (IE) is caused due to the vegetation on the heart valves, myocardium wall, or the pacemaker leads. Vegetation is a lesion that appears as a consequence of successive deposition of platelets and fibrin on the endothelial surface of the heart. Colonies of microbes can be usually found under the vegetation.

Successful strategy to decrease indwelling catheter utilization rates in an academic medical intensive care unit.

Background: Duration of indwelling urinary catheterization is an important risk factor for urinary tract infections. We devised a strategy to decrease the utilization of indwelling urinary catheters (IUCs). We also highlight the challenges of managing critically ill patients without IUCs and demonstrate some of the initiatives that we undertook to overcome these challenges.

Right ventricular infarction.

Coronary Heart Disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. A great amount is known about left ventricular myocardial infarction. It was not until much later (1974) that right ventricular myocardial infarction was studied as a separate entity.

Curious case of extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma.

Extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcomas (EMC) are a rare entity of soft tissue tumors that have slow growth with metastatic potential. We discuss here a case of EMC presenting with right upper extremity pain and hemoptysis. Computed tomography scans chest showed diffuse metastatic numerous lung nodules bilaterally.

Characterization and clinical significance of right ventricular mechanics in pulmonary hypertension evaluated with cardiovascular magnetic resonance feature tracking.

Background: Prognosis in pulmonary hypertension (PH) is related to right ventricular (RV) function. Quantification of RV mechanics may offer additive value. The objective of our study is to determine the feasibility and clinical and prognostic value of RV strain analysis by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) based feature tracking (FT) in PH.