Mayo Clinic proceedings
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Mayo Clinic proceedings · Jul 2003
ReviewThe hematologic system as a marker of organ dysfunction in sepsis.
Sepsis with acute organ dysfunction (severe sepsis) results from a systemic proinflammatory and procoagulant response to infection. Organ dysfunction in the patient with sepsis is associated with increased mortality. Although most organs have discrete anatomical boundaries and carry out unified functions, the hematologic system is poorly circumscribed and serves several unrelated functions. ⋯ The use of activated protein C may provide a survival benefit in subsets of patients with severe sepsis. The hematologic system should not be overlooked when assessing a patient with severe sepsis. A thorough clinical evaluation and panel of laboratory tests that relate to this organ system should be as much a part of the work-up as taking the patient's blood pressure, monitoring renal function, or measuring liver enzymes.
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Mayo Clinic proceedings · Jul 2003
Editorial Comment ReviewSARS: 1918 revisited? The urgent need for global collaboration in public health.
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Cysts and cavities are commonly encountered abnormalities on chest radiography and chest computed tomography. Occasionally, the underlying nature of the lesions can be readily apparent as in bullae associated with emphysema. Other times, cystic and cavitary lung lesions can be a diagnostic challenge. ⋯ Focal or multifocal cavitary lesions include neoplasms such as bronchogenic carcinomas and lymphomas, many types of infections or abscesses, immunologic disorders such as Wegener granulomatosis and rheumatoid nodule, pulmonary infarct, septic embolism, progressive massive fibrosis with pneumoconiosis, lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia, localized bronchiectasis, and some congenital lesions. Diffuse involvement with cystic or cavitary lesions may be seen in pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis, pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis, honeycomb lung associated with advanced fibrosis, diffuse bronchiectasis, and, rarely, metastatic disease. High-resolution computed tomography of the chest frequently helps define morphologic features that may serve as important clues regarding the nature of cystic and cavitary lesions in the lung.
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Mayo Clinic proceedings · May 2003
ReviewSkin blood flow in adult human thermoregulation: how it works, when it does not, and why.
The thermoregulatory control of human skin blood flow is vital to the maintenance of normal body temperatures during challenges to thermal homeostasis. Sympathetic neural control of skin blood flow includes the noradrenergic vasoconstrictor system and a sympathetic active vasodilator system, the latter of which is responsible for 80% to 90% of the substantial cutaneous vasodilation that occurs with whole body heat stress. With body heating, the magnitude of skin vasodilation is striking: skin blood flow can reach 6 to 8 L/min during hyperthermia. ⋯ In type 2 diabetes mellitus, the ability of skin blood vessels to dilate is impaired. This impaired vasodilation likely contributes to the increased risk of heat illness in this patient population during exposure to elevated ambient temperatures. Raynaud phenomenon and erythromelalgia represent cutaneous microvascular disorders whose pathophysiology appears to relate to disorders of local and/or reflex thermoregulatory control of the skin circulation.
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Mayo Clinic proceedings · Apr 2003
ReviewNew management strategies in the treatment of status epilepticus.
Status epilepticus is a neurologic emergency associated with high mortality and long-term disability. Recent advances in our understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in the initiation and perpetuation of seizure activity have revealed that status epilepticus is a dynamic and evolving process. Alterations at the cellular level parallel physiological, physical, and electrical changes at the bedside. ⋯ Two recent large clinical studies have shown the benefit of early administration of benzodiazepines to control status epilepticus. Pharmacological algorithms designed to focus medical management have trended toward earlier and more aggressive treatment. The hope is that continued exploration into the basic mechanisms involved in status epilepticus and future controlled clinical trials defining optimal medical management will produce further advances.