1/5. The challenge of diagnosing the cause of jaundice.The patient presenting with jaundice may have a variety of hepatobiliary or hematologic conditions. Understanding the causes of jaundice and the history and physical examination hallmarks provide the basis for choosing the most efficacious laboratory and diagnostic studies. A case report illustrating the reasoning involved in distinguishing between the different causes of jaundice is presented.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/5. Cases from the Osler Medical Service at Johns Hopkins University.A 37-year-old woman presented with increasing abdominal pain and jaundice. Six weeks before admission, she developed persistent diarrhea and jaundice of the skin. She also bruised easily, and her gums bled. In the subsequent weeks, her appetite decreased, she was fatigued, and she had nausea, vomiting, and abdominal distension. She had a history of drinking 1 quart of vodka every day for 20 years, with brief periods of abstinence; she stopped consuming alcohol 11 days before admission because it no longer provided symptomatic relief. Her past medical history was also notable for depression, including a suicide attempt 4 years earlier. She did not smoke, use illicit drugs, or have unprotected sexual intercourse. She had received no blood transfusions and had not traveled recently. She took no medications, except for occasional ibuprofen.On physical examination, she was thin and deeply jaundiced, and she trembled and responded slowly to questions. She was afebrile but tachypneic, and she had orthostatic hypotension. Her HEENT examination was notable for scleral and sublingual icterus, as well as crusted blood on her gums and teeth. The jugular veins were flat. The cardiac examination revealed tachycardia (heart rate, 103 beats per minute) without murmurs, rubs, or gallops. The abdomen was nontender and protuberant, with hypoactive bowel sounds; the spleen was not palpable, and there was no fluid wave or caput medusae. The liver percussed to 18 cm, with a smooth edge extending 10 cm below the costal margin. She had cutaneous telangiectases on her chest and bilateral palmar erythema. There was no peripheral edema. The neurologic examination was notable for asterixis. Her stool was guaiac positive. Laboratory studies revealed the following values: hematocrit, 21.2%; white blood cells, 17,310/mm(3); ammonia, 42 micromol/L; serum creatinine, 3.9 mg/dL; serum urea nitrogen, 70 mg/dL; albumin, 2.1 g/dL; total bilirubin, 26.8 mg/dL; alanine aminotransferase, 14 U/L; aspartate aminotransferase, 77 U/L; alkaline phosphatase, 138 U/L; prothrombin time, 103 seconds (international normalized ratio, 10.6); and urinary sodium, <5 mg/dL. urinalysis revealed an elevated specific gravity and numerous muddy granular casts. hepatitis a, B, and C serologies were negative. On abdominal ultrasound examination, there was no ascites, and the liver was echogenic. The portal and hepatic veins were patent, and the hepatic arteries were normal. The spleen measured 14 cm.What is the diagnosis?- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/5. gallbladder and biliary tract disease in the intensive care unit.intensive care unit patients present a difficult challenge in the diagnosis and treatment of complications related to the biliary tract. Altered mental status interferes with the patient's ability to communicate symptoms and give a reliable physical examination. Laboratory data are often nonspecific in diagnosing complications of biliary tract disease because of the high incidence of cholestasis in intensive care unit patients. Likewise, routine radiographic evaluation has a marked decreased sensitivity and specificity in evaluating biliary tract disorders. Taken together, these factors often lead to a delay in diagnosis of biliary tract problems in the intensive care unit patient. Intervention in these patients is associated with high morbidity and mortality when compared to the ambulatory setting. This article reviews the clinical presentation, differential diagnosis, and management options of biliary tract complications in this complex patient population.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/5. cytomegalovirus infection in the normal host.CMV mononucleosis often resembles EBV infectious mononucleosis; however, certain features of the history and physical may help to distinguish CMV from EBV. While CMV mononucleosis is usually self-limited, certain laboratory abnormalities may persist for months or years after the patient has recovered. Previous reports on CMV in the non-immunocompromised host have rarely described systemic complications. We have reviewed 10 cases of CMV with systemic manifestations at one institution over a 15-year period. These patients had prolonged fevers (often greater than three weeks) and the diagnosis was often unsuspected during the early part of the illness. While two patients required mechanical ventilation, all patients had self-limiting disease and survived. When CMV is suspected and diagnosed early in the course, numerous diagnostic (and potentially dangerous) tests can be avoided in a viral illness in which prolonged fever is common.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.041695220919748keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/5. Severe jaundice as presenting symptom of generalized peritonitis following cesarean section.jaundice complicating severe bacterial infection has already been described; much less common is its occurrence as the presenting symptom of severe sepsis. A case is presented describing a patient who developed rapid increasing jaundice on the 4th day after an elective cesarean section, accompanied by deterioration in her general status. Various diagnostic means (abdominal CT, ultrasound investigation and hepatosplenic scanning) were performed in order to confirm or rule out the possibility of intraabdominal sepsis and the only finding on physical examination, being the absence of peristaltics. In spite of negative results of all the image processing techniques the patient underwent an explorative laparotomy on the 6th day, which revealed a generalized purulent peritonitis. It should be emphasized that: Severe jaundice maybe the presenting symptom of sepsis. False negative results of several modern image processing procedures may mislead the diagnostic approach and the subsequent therapeutic methods.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |