1/10. Horizontal conjugate gaze palsy in eosinophilic meningitis.Two cases of eosinophilic meningitis who presented with headache and strabismus are reported. Pertinent physical examination revealed unilateral horizontal conjugate gaze palsy with absence of doll's eye maneuver and hemiparesis. The etiologic agent of eosinophilic meningitis is presumed to be angiostrongylus cantonensis and the infected location that produce horizontal conjugate gaze palsy was a pontine lesion.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/10. confusion as the presenting manifestation of vertebral osteomyelitis: a case report.A 44-year-old patient presented with increasing confusion. He was first diagnosed as having intermittent pressure hydrocephalus but a further evaluation showed CSF pleocytosis and hypoglycorrhachia. Five weeks later, his physical examination was unrevealing. Nuclear imaging techniques were conflicting, with negative gallium- and indium-labelled white blood cells scans but a Tc scan pointing towards a vertebral infection. A well-demarcated lesion in the T9 vertebral body, demonstrated by CT scan, confirmed the diagnosis of vertebral osteomyelitis. Although we were unable to recover the causative organism, antibiotic treatment for presumed staphylococcal osteomyelitis resulted in full recovery. This case indicates that vertebral osteomyelitis may cause significant meningeal inflammation even in the absence of epidural or subdural abscess. We recommend that in patients with meningitis without a clear etiology vertebral osteomyelitis should be considered and pursued with CT scannings of the vertebrae, a procedure that can yield positive findings even when other scanning modalities are negative.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/10. Epidural intracranial abscess as a complication of frontal sinusitis: case report and review of the literature.Two cases of epidural abscess as a complication of frontal sinusitis are presented. The diagnoses were suspected on the basis of history and were confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography. Both patients were treated successfully by means of surgery and intravenous antibiotics. One patient developed meningitis in the postoperative course and was treated by changing the antibiotic regimen. However, further follow-up in the outpatient clinic by physical examinations and brain computed tomography scans showed no longterm neurologic complications in either case. Intracranial suppuration, including epidural abscesses, can complicate acute and chronic frontal sinusitis. These complications are diagnosed by maintaining a high index of suspicion and using the appropriate neuroimaging studies without delay.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/10. Too quiet.The child with a fever (or a reported fever, as in this case) has a wide range of potential illnesses that must be considered. The pediatric community approaches children in three age groups: those younger than three months, those between 3-24 months, and those over 24 months. Those under three months of age are most at risk for serious problems, and the physical examination of the child is most unreliable. Infants most at risk for infection have smaller birth weights, mothers with infectious diseases such as chlamydia or hiv, and labor following premature rupture of membranes. Infants cannot offer complaints; have poorly functional muscles that do not allow the demonstration of neck stiffness or stiff joints; and cannot cough productively to demonstrate pneumonia. The most strenuous activity for an infant is eating, so ill infants will often feed poorly. The emergency physician or pediatrician will want the prehospital emergency provider to observe the behavior of an ill child to gain an indication of the seriousness of the illness. The Yale observation Scale uses six criteria to stratify the ill child. The ill child will have poor color, a weak or high-pitched cry, poor hydration (dry diaper and mucous membranes), little reaction to parental stimulation, little arousal or continuous sleeping and no smile. This child demonstrated many criteria of an ill child. Her temperature was likely high at the onset of illness (while in her crib), which was not detectable by the time the EMS crew did its evaluation. Difficulty breathing is a common observation in ill infants by their parents, and the child had a dry diaper. A quiet child is not to be considered a healthy child, and like many EMS situations, the crew was appropriately "worried most about the quiet one."- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/10. Successful treatment of neonatal citrobacter freundii meningitis with ceftriaxone.Citrobacter meningitis is an uncommon enteric gram-negative infection that afflicts neonates and young children. Approximately 30 percent of children treated or untreated die from the infection. We report a case of C. freundii meningitis that was resistant to ampicillin and was successfully treated with ceftriaxone, a third-generation cephalosporin. A 13-day-old, full-term baby was admitted to the hospital with a one-day history of fever up to 38.8 degrees C. On admission the infant had a temperature of 39.2 degrees C, pulse of 140 beats/min, and a respiratory rate of 32 breaths/min. Except for a slightly bulging fontanelle, the rest of the physical examination was within normal limits. Complete blood count revealed a white blood cell (WBC) count of 12.5 x 10(9)/L, with 0.66 polymorphonuclear cells, 0.10 bands, 0.18 lymphocytes, and 0.06 monocytes. A stat lumbar puncture showed 10 WBCs per high-power field with gram-negative rods. Empiric therapy with ampicillin 225 mg q12h and gentamicin 11 mg q8h was started. Both antibiotics were discontinued after culture and sensitivity results were positive for C. freundii in the blood and spinal fluid. The patient was successfully treated with nine days of ceftriaxone 250 mg q12h.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/10. Intermittent disconjugate eye movements--a sign of raised intracranial pressure with brain stem compression.Two patients are reported who demonstrated disconjugate eye movements associated with raised intracranial pressure. This physical sign has not previously been recorded in association with raised intracranial pressure.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.083026980990141keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/10. 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 = 0.083026980990141keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/10. Treatment of coccidioidomycosis with ketoconazole: clinical and laboratory studies of 18 patients.ketoconazole was given to 18 patients with coccidioidomycosis. Fourteen had received prior antifungal chemotherapy with amphotericin b, miconazole, or both. Ten patients had pulmonary disease, two had meningitis, and six had extrameningeal disseminated disease. The initial dose of ketoconazole was 200 mg per day; it was later increased to 400 mg per day for some patients. All strains of Coccididioides immitis tested were sensitive to ketoconazole. Approximately 2-4 hr after an oral dose of 200 mg of ketoconazole, levels of the drug in blood peaked at approximately 2 micrograms/ml. Higher concentrations in blood were achieved with a 400-mg dose. Improvement was measured by physical examination, conversion of cultures previously positive for C. immitis to negative, decrease in erythrocyte sedimentation rate by 50%, and decrease in titer of complement fixation antibody by two or more dilutions. One patient died after one week of treatment with ketoconazole and could not be evaluated; two other patients with coccidioidal meningitis could not be evaluated. Six of nine patients with pulmonary disease showed radiographic improvement, and their sputum cultures, which had been positive, became negative. Four of the six patients with disseminated disease improved. There were few adverse reactions to ketoconazole, which can be safely administered for prolonged periods to patients with coccidioidomycosis. These findings suggest that ketoconazole may be effective for treatment of this disease and indicate that trials comparing the efficacy of ketoconazole with that of amphotericin b are warranted.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/10. meningitis caused by mycobacterium fortuitum.A previously healthy 16-yr-old Caucasian male developed a relapsing purulent meningitis shortly after a motor accident in venezuela, in which he received a small wound with a retained foreign body in the sacral region. Repeated initial physical examinations, radiographs of lumbar and sacral regions, and contrast myelography failed to demonstrate a cerebrospinal fluid leak or bone involvement, and mycobacterium fortuitum was repeatedly isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid. Finally, from the originally "cured" lumbar wound a purulent material was obtained from which M. fortuitum was also isolated. A retained foreign body was removed, and an abscess and fistulous tract were incised and drained. The patient responded dramatically to the combination of isoniazid plus co-trimoxazole and surgery.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/10. Acquired orbital retraction syndrome.Four patients with infiltrative orbital disease involving an extraocular muscle demonstrated a characteristic retraction-motility pattern. The cardinal feature was retraction of the globe on attempted gaze opposite the field of action of the involved muscle. Variable eye movement limitation was present in the field of action and opposite to the field of action of the involved muscle. When motility was restricted, the force-duction test was positive. Modest proptosis and episcleal vascular congestion over the extraocular muscle insertion were associted physical findings. Dysthyroid eye disease, inflammatory myositis, and neoplasms are among the infiltrative myopathies that may produce an acquired orbital retraction symdrome.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.083026980990141keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
| | Next -> |