Cleveland Clinic journal of medicine
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Review
Primary and secondary prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: A case-based approach.
Estimating the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) is a daily challenge for clinicians and is crucial to tailoring preventive medical care and guiding shared decision-making. New imaging modalities and novel biomarkers allow for more accurate assessment of patient risk and minimize the risk of over- or undertreating patients. Major cardiovascular medicine societies have incorporated new diagnostic modalities in their guidelines to aid clinical decision-making for primary and secondary prevention of ASCVD. This review presents commonly encountered cases relevant to estimating and reducing ASCVD risk based on available guidelines and expert opinion.
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Critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency (CIRCI) is a state of systemic inflammation involving dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, altered cortisol metabolism, and tissue resistance to corticosteroids. Many conditions may be associated with CIRCI, including sepsis, septic shock, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and severe community-acquired pneumonia. Recommendations and practice for diagnosing and treating this condition have evolved as information has emerged. Here, the author reviews the current thinking.
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Cirrhosis has been regarded as a hypocoagulable state associated with an increased risk of bleeding. But patients with cirrhosis also have a high incidence of thrombotic complications, challenging this dogma. ⋯ Conventional coagulation tests such as the platelet count and prothrombin time do not assess the reduced anticoagulation factors in cirrhosis and overestimate the bleeding risk, and any intervention based on these test results can lead to thrombotic complications. This article reviews the changes in hemostasis associated with cirrhosis, newer tests for assessing coagulation, and preprocedural minimization of coagulopathy.