Browse Internal Medicine Articles by Topic

Noninvasive Diagnosis of Transthyretin Amyloid Cardiomyopathy

A testing strategy combining bone scintigraphy and laboratory testing allows accurate diagnosis of transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy without the need for a biopsy.

Can MRI Diagnose Myocarditis?

New quantitative MRI technique performs better than the older Lake Louise criteria for diagnosing myocarditis as compared to the standard of endomyocardial biopsy.

Atrial Fibrillation Ablation in Heart Failure Patients May Be Particularly Beneficial

Atrial fibrillation ablation leads to better outcomes in heart failure patients compared to amiodarone.

A large Phase IV registry study shows that rivaroxaban is associated with a very low incidence of major bleeding, death, or stroke. Also, adherence to therapy was much higher than observed in other studies with vitamin K antagonists.

New Analysis of COGENT Data Supports Proton Pump Inhibitor Benefit

It shows comparable risks of gastrointestinal and cardiovascular events between low- and high-dose aspirin.

Acetazolamide in Mechanically Ventilated Patients with COPD: Is There a Benefit?

Compared to placebo, the use of acetazolamide in mechanically ventilated patients with COPD does not significantly reduce the duration of mechanical ventilation.

Communication Facilitators Potentially Can Improve Care for the Sickest ICU Patients

Highly trained communication facilitators who counseled families and met with physicians and nurses were shown to decrease symptoms of depression in family members at six months and decreased ICU length of stay without affecting mortality.

Delaying Intubation in Severe Alcohol Withdrawal

Delaying intubation until aspiration or cardiopulmonary decompensation did not affect mortality but increased the incidence of pneumonia and length of stay.

Patients Rarely Sleep in the ICU

Understanding the mechanisms of sleep deprivation in the ICU may help clinicians modify some of these factors to promote better quality sleep.

Clinical Briefs

In this section: watching carefully for suicide risk; tackling chronic cough; and a new treatment for Peyronie's disease.