COVID-19-Associated Nephropathy: A Devastating Complication.

With the rapid emergence and prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 worldwide, cases of COVID-19-associated nephropathy (COVAN) from collapsing focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (cFSGS) have been reported, and the associations between the two are actively being studied. Creating appropriate treatment guidelines for COVAN requires further understanding of the pathophysiology of this type of kidney injury. This case report outlines the case of a 77-year-old patient admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 infection with a subsequent renal biopsy indicating cFSGS, adding to the data exploring the relationship between COVID-19 infections, cFSGS and the associated risk factors. Current guidelines on the treatment of COVAN are similar to those of other causes of cFSGS but continue to have poor outcomes and resistance to treatments. Further research needs to be done on both the clinical assessment and pathophysiology of COVAN to provide timely and life-saving interventions.

Varicella Zoster Meningitis in a Young, Immunocompetent Patient Despite Initiation of Antiviral Therapy.

Varicella zoster virus (VZV) reactivation, also known as herpes zoster is common in older adults and immunocompromised individuals and often causes a painful, vesicular rash limited to a dermatomal distribution. On occasion, it can lead to various neurological complications as well. Here we present the case of a young, immunocompetent male in his 20's with a history of primary varicella infection who presented with complaints of a painful rash in the S3-S4 dermatomal distribution. Despite being initiated on the standard oral antiviral dose for two days, he developed a headache and neck stiffness. He was diagnosed with VZV meningitis through the lumbar puncture and cerebrospinal fluid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay analysis. The patient reported significant improvement in symptoms following intravenous acyclovir and was discharged with additional oral valacyclovir at a higher-than-standard dosage. Our case highlights that even in relatively low-risk patients, physicians must maintain a high level of clinical suspicion for the complications of VZV reactivation even after beginning the oral antiviral medication.

A Case of Adult-Onset Still's Disease with Positive Antinuclear Antibodies.

Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) is a rare inflammatory disorder involving multiple systems. It can present a wide range of symptoms like maculopapular rash, fever, and arthralgia, which may overlap with many other disorders, making it difficult to diagnose. Unknown etiology and no diagnostic tests further make it complex to establish the diagnosis of AOSD. We report the case of a 30-year-old female who presented with persistent rash, joint pain, and fever, along with positive antinuclear antibodies (ANA), diagnosed with this condition. The patient improved with corticosteroids and the plan is to start disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) after tapering off steroids.

A case report of double negative anti-GBM disease.

Goodpasture's disease is a life-threatening autoimmune disease that can lead to end stage renal disease and death. We report a case of 61-year-old female who presented with deteriorating renal function. Initial laboratory investigations were negative for autoimmune antibodies including negative anti-neutrophilic cytoplasm antibodies and anti-glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) antibodies using both enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and indirect immunofluorescence. However, renal biopsy was positive for linear IgG staining. Despite starting plasmapheresis and corticosteroids treatment, her renal functions continued to deteriorate and she was started on regular hemodialysis. This case highlights the challenging presentation and diagnosis of anti-GBM disease, which requires a high clinical suspicion necessarily for early diagnosis and treatment to improve survival rates.

Merkel cell carcinoma with intramedullary spinal cord metastasis: a very rare clinical finding.

This clinical image teaches readers that a rare finding such as intramedullary spinal metastasis could exist even in the rarest tumors. It adds to the literature how it was managed. It also might reflect the improvement of our cancer treatment allowing us to follow patients longer to find those rare findings in rare tumors.

Nodular pulmonary amyloidosis with primary pulmonary MALT lymphoma masquerading as metastatic lung disease.

Nodular pulmonary amyloidosis is a very rare form of localized amyloidosis involving the lung, with very little known about its nature. It is usually associated with indolent B cell lymphoproliferative disorder and also connective tissue disorders. No definite treatment guideline exists. Many patients respond to chemotherapy with low risk of progression and a 'wait and watch' strategy is also considered a valid treatment option. In this report the authors present a case of nodular pulmonary amyloidosis with pulmonary mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma that presented with features of metastatic malignant disease and after definitive diagnosis decided not to undergo treatment.

A case of nausea and vomiting to remember.

Nausea and vomiting are the most common overlooked debilitating symptoms that significantly impact the quality of life and acute care we provide as physicians. The duo has an extensive aetiology ranging from common known causes to uncommon idiopathic reasons. Our case illustrates the fact that identifying the aetiology of nausea and vomiting can be lifesaving, given the characteristics of the patient. This case is about a 31-year-old Caucasian woman, with history significant for insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus on insulin pump since the age 2, Hypothyroidism, diabetic peripheral neuropathy with no significant known family history, who was admitted with intractable nausea and vomiting. She was discharged twice from hospital after temporary symptom control with presumed diagnosis of diabetic gastroparesis. Her third hospital visit enabled us to identify the cause of her symptoms being Addison's crisis rather than gastroparesis.

Dystextia as a presentation of stroke.

Cerebrovascular accident remains one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Understanding the presentation of this common disease will be of great benefit for early diagnosis and management. We report a newly recognised symptom of stroke where there is difficulty writing mobile phone texts, an entity called dystextia. This symptom was previously reported as a presentation of complex migraine and starts to be recognised in the symptomology of stroke. Our patient with this presentation was found to have ischaemic stroke secondary to carotid vascular disease which was operated and she had a complete resolution of her symptoms with returning to her baseline shortly after hospitalisation and before her vascular intervention.

Resolution of neurological deficits secondary to spontaneous intracranial haemorrhage and posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) in a patient with hepatitis C-associated cryoglobulinaemia: a role for plasmapheresis.

Essential mixed cryoglobulinaemia or type II cryoglobulinaemia is an important extrahepatic manifestation of chronic hepatitis C. Cryoglobulinaemia results in the deposition of immune complexes in small or medium-sized blood vessels leading to palpable purpura, arthralgia, renal disease and peripheral neuropathy. Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a distinct phenomenon characterised by vasogenic oedema in the posterior circulation of brain. Cryoglobulinaemic vasculitis leading to spontaneous intracranial haemorrhage and PRES syndrome is rarely reported in the medical literature. In this report, we present an unusual case of spontaneous intracranial haemorrhage and PRES secondary to hepatitis C-associated cryoglobulinaemia presenting as right dense hemiplegia. Prompt institution of plasmapheresis resulted in successful resolution of symptoms in our patient, followed by full neurological recovery. To the best of our knowledge, this case describes the first successful use of plasmapheresis in alleviating neurological complications resulting from cryoglobulinaemic vasculitis and PRES secondary to chronic hepatitis C.

Are students ready for meaningful use?

BACKGROUND: The meaningful use (MU) of electronic medical records (EMRs) is being implemented in three stages. Key objectives of stage one include electronic analysis of data entered into structured fields, using decision-support tools (e.g., checking drug-drug interactions [DDI]) and electronic information exchange. OBJECTIVE: The authors assessed the performance of medical students on 10 stage-one MU tasks and measured the correlation between students' MU performance and subsequent end-of-clerkship professionalism assessments and their grades on an end-of-year objective structured clinical examination. PARTICIPANTS: Two-hundred and twenty-two third-year medical students on the internal medicine (IM) clerkship. DESIGN/MAIN MEASURES: From July 2010 to February 2012, all students viewed 15 online tutorials covering MU competencies. The authors measured student MU documentation and performance in the chart of a virtual patient using a fully functional training EMR. Specific MU measurements included, adding: a new problem, a new medication, an advanced directive, smoking status, the results of screening tests; and performing a DDI (in which a major interaction was probable), and communicating a plan for this interaction. KEY RESULTS: A total of 130 MU errors were identified. Sixty-eight (30.6%) students had at least one error, and 30 (13.5%) had more than one (range 2-6). Of the 130 errors, 90 (69.2%) were errors in structured data entry. Errors occurred in medication dosing and instructions (18%), DDI identification (12%), documenting smoking status (15%), and colonoscopy results (23%). Students with MU errors demonstrated poorer performance on end-of-clerkship professionalism assessments (r =-0.112, p=0.048) and lower observed structured clinical examination (OSCE) history-taking skills (r =-0.165, p=0.008) and communication scores (r= - 0.173, p=0.006). CONCLUSIONS: MU errors among medical students are common and correlate with subsequent poor performance in multiple educational domains. These results indicate that without assessment and feedback, a substantial minority of students may not be ready to progress to more advanced MU tasks.

Mobile technology for the facilitation of direct observation and assessment of student performance.

BACKGROUND: We developed, implemented, and assessed a web-based clinical evaluation application (i.e., CEX app) for Internet-enabled mobile devices, including mobile phones. The app displays problem-specific checklists that correspond to training problems created by the Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine. PURPOSE: We hypothesized that use of the CEX app for directly observing students' clinical skills would be feasible and acceptable, and would demonstrate adequate reliability and validity. METHODS: Between July 2010 and February 2012, 266 third-year medical students completed 5 to 10 formative CEXs during their internal medicine clerkship. The observers (attendings and residents), who performed the CEX, used the app to guide and document their observations, record their time observing and giving feedback to the students, and their overall satisfaction with the CEX app. Interrater reliability and validity were assessed with 17 observers who viewed 6 videotaped student-patient encounters, and by measuring the correlation between student CEX scores and their scores on subsequent standardized-patient Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) exams. RESULTS: A total of 2,523 CEXs were completed by 411 observers. The average number of evaluations per student was 9.8 (± 1.8 SD), and the average number of CEXs completed per observer was 6 (± 11.8 SD). Observers spent less than 10 min on 45.3% of the CEXs and 68.6% of the feedback sessions. An overwhelming majority of observers (90.6%) reported satisfaction with the CEX. Interrater reliability was measured at 0.69 among the observers viewing the videotapes, and their ratings discriminated between competent and noncompetent performances. Student CEX grades, however, did not correlate with their end of 3rd-year OSCE scores. CONCLUSIONS: The use of this CEX app is feasible and it captures students' clinical performance data with a high rate of user satisfaction. Our embedded checklists had adequate interrater reliability and concurrent validity. The grades measured on this app, however, were not predictive of subsequent student performance.

Sweet's syndrome as a dermatological manifestation of underlying coronary artery disease.

We report an unusual case of a 50-year-old female with no significant past medical history who reported with a sudden eruption of painful erythematous papules accompanied by fever. Clinical and pathological findings were consistent with acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis (or Sweet's syndrome). Two weeks later, she complained of chest pain and was diagnosed with non-ST elevation myocardial infarction. Coronary angiogram demonstrated stenosis of right coronary artery and left Circumflex artery. Subsequent workup to identify underlying malignant or autoimmune disorders was negative. She refused to undergo percutaneous coronary intervention and was treated conservatively with steroids, resulting in dramatic resolution of skin lesions. Six months later, the patient was readmitted with similar complaints including fever, generalized rash, and chest pain. Electrocardiography demonstrated old infero-lateral wall infarction. Cardiac enzymes were not elevated. Repeat workup failed to identify underlying systemic disorder except coronary artery disease (CAD). She recovered following administration of steroids and continued to receive medical therapy for CAD. This case demonstrates an unusual association between Sweet's syndrome and CAD in an adult female. Sweet's syndrome is considered to be a reactive phenomenon of underlying systemic disorders. Therefore, patients presenting with Sweet's syndrome should be evaluated for CAD, especially in the absence of underlying malignant or autoimmune disorders.

The implementation of a mobile problem-specific electronic CEX for assessing directly observed student-patient encounters.

BACKGROUND: Facilitating direct observation of medical students' clinical competencies is a pressing need. METHODS: We developed an electronic problem-specific Clinical Evaluation Exercise (eCEX) based on a national curriculum. We assessed its feasibility in monitoring and recording students' competencies and the impact of a grading incentive on the frequency of direct observations in an internal medicine clerkship. Students (n = 56) at three clinical sites used the eCEX and comparison students (n = 56) at three other clinical sites did not. Students in the eCEX group were required to arrange 10 evaluations with faculty preceptors. Students in the second group were required to document a single, faculty observed 'Full History and Physical' encounter with a patient. Students and preceptors were surveyed at the end of each rotation. RESULTS: eCEX increased students' and evaluators' understanding of direct-observation objectives and had a positive impact on the evaluators' ability to provide feedback and assessments. The grading incentive increased the number of times a student reported direct observation by a resident preceptor. CONCLUSIONS: eCEX appears to be an effective means of enhancing student evaluation.