Browse Internal Medicine Articles by Topic

What's in a Name: Should Protocols for Sepsis Treatment Be So Complete?

ABSTRACT & COMMENTARY: Early and aggressive goal-directed therapy treatment for sepsis leads to a decrease in mortality.

Surgery for All Papillary Fibroelastomas?

Patients with papillary fibroelastomas on echo who do not undergo surgical removal have an increased risk of stroke.

When to Repair the Tricuspid Valve with Mitral Surgery

In patients undergoing mitral valve repair with moderate tricuspid regurgitation or tricuspid annular dilatation, tricuspid annuloplasty is safe and is associated with improved long-term right ventricular function.

Two Studies Weaken the Case for Drug-Eluting Balloon Treatment of Coronary In-stent Restenosis

Repeat stenting with drug-eluting stents should, for now, be considered the default treatment for in-stent restenosis.

Refining Stroke Risk Prediction in Heart Failure Without Atrial Fibrillation

ABSTRACT & COMMENTARY: A high-risk subgroup of heart failure patients without atrial fibrillation can be identified using simple clinical variables.

Are Beta-blockers Post-CABG Indicated?

In post-coronary artery bypass graft surgery patients, long-term beta-blocker use was associated with lower rates of death and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events.

Time to Shelve Warfarin for Atrial Fibrillation Patients?

Patients with atrial fibrillation taking oral anticoagulants exhibited a decline in renal function that was greatest with warfarin use vs dabigatran use.

Cryptogenic Stroke and Atrial Fibrillation

In large prospective databases of ischemic stroke, cryptogenic stroke occurs in as many as 30% of all ischemic stroke patients. Many of these patients have the characteristics of cardioembolic stroke, and there has always been a strong suspicion that some of these patients have atrial fibrillation.

Antibiotics for Intra-abdominal Infections: Less Is More

Complicated intra-abdominal infections cause significant morbidity and mortality, especially in the elderly. Often these infections are treated with antibiotics until all the signs and symptoms of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome resolve, typically for 7 to 14 days.

Duration of Antibiotic Treatment for Vertebral Osteomyelitis

Three hundred fifty-nine patients with pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis were randomized to 6 weeks vs. 12 weeks of antibiotic treatment in an open-label controlled trial. Six weeks of antibiotics was found to be not inferior to 12 weeks of treatment.