Chest
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A 53-year-old man was admitted with complaints of back pain of 3 months' duration along with numbness and weakness in his left upper and lower extremities. He denied any respiratory complaints or anorexia but did report an 11 kg weight loss over the last 3 months. He had no other significant medical history and denied any history of cigarette smoking or recreational drug use. Family history was significant for prostate cancer in his father.
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Urine output (UO) is a vital sign for critically ill patients, but standards for monitoring and reporting vary widely between ICUs. Careful monitoring of UO could lead to earlier recognition of acute kidney injury (AKI) and better fluid management. We sought to determine if the intensity of UO monitoring is associated with outcomes in patients with and those without AKI. ⋯ In this large ICU population, intensive monitoring of UO was associated with improved detection of AKI and reduced 30-day mortality in patients experiencing AKI, as well as less fluid overload for all patients. Our results should help inform clinical decisions and ICU policy about frequency of monitoring of UO, especially for patients at high risk of AKI or fluid overload, or both.
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A 47-year-old man with a medical history of hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and OSA presented with a 7- to 10-day history of progressively worsening dyspnea on exertion, with a walking distance of 60 feet. He had bilateral lower-extremity swelling and was prescribed furosemide without clinical improvement. ⋯ He had no smoking history and was retired from working in technology sales. On review of systems, he denied cough, chest pain, hemoptysis, fevers, chills, or weight loss.