The Medical Media Review
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Bradycardia and Sinus Node Dysfunction: an Internal Medicine Approach
Definitions Sinus node dysfunction may include sinus bradycardia, sinus pauses, sinus exit block, sinus arrest, tachy-brady syndrome, persistent atrial standstill and chronotropic incompetence. Symptoms, when present, are usually related to cerebral hypoperfusion. These include dizziness, presyncope, and syncope. Other symptoms include congestive heart failure, fatigue, decrease exercise capacity, recurrent falls, confusion, memory loss, and palpitations or stroke (if…
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ECG Pocket Brain (2011) by Ken Grauer MD
There are many hundreds of EKG books in existence, but I can probably count on one or two hands those that I would consider exceptionally good. ECG Pocket Brain by (2011) by Ken Grauer MD is one of the best. You can download a generously-sized excerpt for free here. The book is concise, relevant and very easy to…
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Syncope: Differential Diagnosis and Workup
Introduction Syncope is an abrupt, transient, spontaneously-resolving loss of consciousness and postural tone caused by a transient drop in cerebral perfusion. It is a descriptive and an interim diagnosis which requires further clarification. The first step Syncope should be distinguished from alternative causes of loss of consciousness and postural tone. Syncope mimics include seizures, concussions, sleep (both normal…
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The 40 Most Burdensome Pathogens in the World
A list of the 40 most burdensome pathogens, in terms of worldwide morbidity and mortality, can be found here. The list includes some of the more obvious pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Plasmodium spp., Human immunodeficiency virus, Influenza virus, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus. Less obvious entries are Leptospira spp., Wuchereria bancrofti, and Parvovirus. Not included in…
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Toxic and Drug Induced Myopathies
One of the best and most concise review articles that I could find on the subject is Toxic and Drug Induced Myopathies. It was published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry in 2009. It is available for a fee here. Another version of the article is posted free here, however it is not 100% identical in terms of content to…
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What do you mean by “dizzy”?
By Mark Yoffe MD I can’t be 100% sure. But if anyone knows, it’s probably Martin A. Samuels MD, who is an expert on the subject and whose excellent publication, Stop the Spinning: A Simple Approach to Vertigo and Dizziness (2009) is available online free. Basically, there are four kinds of dizzy (my interpretation): Syncope or near-syncope…
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Book Review: Visual Guide to Musculoskeletal Tumors: A Clinical – Radiologic – Histologic Approach
Visual Guide to Musculoskeletal Tumors: A Clinical – Radiologic – Histologic Approach(2010) by Felasfa M. Wodajo MD et al. is a superb integration of clinical medicine, gross pathology, histopathology and radiology of musculoskeletal tumors. The pictures are excellent and the amount of information is comprehensive, yet easy to absorb. The book is ideal for radiologists, pathologists, oncologists and orthopedic surgeons. In addition, general practitioners…
Got any book recommendations?