The American journal of medicine
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Letter Case Reports
Association Between Iron-Deficiency Anemia and Hypophosphatemia.
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Patients with cryptogenic strokes are more likely to have a patent foremen ovale than in the general population. It is speculated that these strokes are due to paradoxical embolism, that is, passage of a venous thrombus across the patent foremen ovale to enter the arterial circulation, resulting in an embolic stroke. Venous thromboembolism is rarely present in these cases of cryptogenic stroke. ⋯ Aneurysms of the atrial septum are easily recognized by echocardiography and are present in approximately one-third of patients with patent foremen ovales. These data suggest that closure of patent foremen ovales in patients with an atrial septal aneurysm is indicated. In patients with a patent foremen ovale without an aneurysm of the atrial septum, patent foremen ovale closure is not indicated.
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Comparative Study
Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, and Physicians Are Comparable in Managing the First Five Years of Diabetes.
Increasing use of nurse practitioners and physician assistants is a possible solution to the shortage of primary care providers in the United States, but the quality of care they provide is not well understood. ⋯ At diagnosis and during 4 years of follow-up, diabetes management by nurse practitioners and physician assistants was comparable to management by physicians. The Veterans Health Administration model for roles of nurse practitioners and physician assistants may be broadly useful to help meet the demand for primary care providers in the United States.
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The magnitude of the risk of severe hypoglycemia associated with sulfonylureas as the initial treatment for type 2 diabetes in the real-world setting is unknown. We assessed the risk of severe hypoglycemia associated with initiating monotherapy with sulfonylurea compared with metformin for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. ⋯ Sulfonylureas, when prescribed as the initiating monotherapy for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, is associated with a 4.5-fold increase in the risk of severe hypoglycemia. Given the negative consequences of this outcome, clinicians should consider alternative hypoglycemic agents when metformin is not tolerated or contraindicated.