The American journal of the medical sciences
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Editorial Review Historical Article
Death of a medical colossus: The course, cause and fatal outcome of Avicenna's colic.
Abu-'Ali al-Husayn ibn Abdallah ibn-Sina (known in the West as Avicenna) is revered in much of Asia as one of history's greatest physicians. And yet, few westerners know of him, his iconic Canon of Medicine or the role he played in preserving ancient Greek medical knowledge following the sack of Rome. We briefly review Avicenna's impressive legacy and provide what to our knowledge is the first critical examination of the illness responsible for his death at age 58 years.
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This study retrospectively analyzed the laboratory data and chest images of patients with amyopathic dermatomyositis associated with interstitial lung disease (ADM-ILD) and patients with other connective tissue disease-related ILDs (CTD-ILDs) to find a characteristic index for the early recognition of ADM-ILD and help clinicians consider the possibility of ADM-ILD as soon as possible. ⋯ ADM-ILD patients have higher serum LDH, AST and CK-MB levels, especially serum LDH levels, and are more prone to organizing pneumonia radiologic patterns on chest HRCT scans than other CTD-ILD patients. A high level of serum LDH with ILD may be a useful characteristic index for recognizing ADM-ILD.
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Mid-aortic syndrome (MAS), characterized by segmental stricture of the distal thoracic and abdominal aorta, is a heterogeneous clinical syndrome with multiple etiologies. ⋯ Takayasu arteritis and atherosclerosis were the most-common causes of MAS among these adults. Imaging tests provided evidence of involved segments and luminal and mural changes, aiding conclusive diagnoses and etiological differentiation of MAS.