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Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is an underdiagnosed illness often affecting the elderly population. Ankle brachial index (ABI) is a good diagnostic tool for PAD in outpatient practice, but remains underused., Materials and Methods: Patients were recruited from an outpatient medical camp in rural India, and assessed for symptoms and pre-existing risk factors. Measured ABI≤0.9 was considered abnormal and considered PAD., Results: Out of 100 patients recruited, PAD was diagnosed in 57 patients. Associated risk factors were like age >55years (67%), hypertension (66%), smoking (69%) and diabetes mellitus (35%) were common., Conclusion: PAD is a very common and underdiagnosed illness in rural India. A simple tool like ABI can help diagnosis in underserved areas., (Copyright © 2017 Cardiological Society of India. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Emphysematous urinary tract infections are rare conditions, usually occurring in diabetic patients. Mortality rates in medically managed patients are reported to be as high as 70% to 90%. Growth of the diabetic population warrants heightened attention to these potentially fatal infections. We report a series of 5 cases with favorable outcomes., Case Reports: All patients were diabetic. Presenting symptoms included fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. On physical examination, two patients had costovertebral angle tenderness; a third was dehydrated; a fourth had dehydration and an abdominal mass; and a fifth patient had suprapubic tenderness. All cases had leukocytosis and impaired renal function. Computed tomography (CT) scan disclosed emphysematous pyelonephritis in 3 cases (gas within renal parenchyma and/or perirenal tissue), emphysematous pyelitis in 1 case (gas in collecting system), and emphysematous cystitis in 1 patient (gas within bladder wall). Urine culture of 1 case grew Enterococci, whereas in the other cases cultures yielded gas-producing organisms. All patients received intravenous antibiotics. Two patients underwent CT-guided abscess drainage; 2 cases had J-stent placement, and one patient was readmitted with septic shock and underwent nephrectomy. All the patients' conditions improved and they were discharged., Discussion: Emphysematous urinary tract infections are usually caused by gas-producing organisms. They should be suspected in diabetic patients with urinary tract infections and worsening of renal function. CT scan is the method of choice for diagnosis and follow up. None of our patients died, mainly due to early diagnosis, sequential radiologic assessment, and timely surgical intervention when needed.

The World Health Organization recognizes biochemical markers of myocardial injury as one of the three criteria for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. We report the first case of elevated troponin I in a patient after a grand mal seizure in the hospital, with no evidence of myocardial infarction and no rhabdomyolysis. Cardiac catheterization and two-dimensional echocardiographic findings were normal. Four months later, the patient was readmitted, again having experienced a grand mal seizure. She was asymptomatic for cardiac disease in both instances. There was a temporal correlation between troponin I levels and seizures. Studies have shown that a troponin level above 3.5 ng/mL implies significant myocardial injury. Our patient had troponin I values as high as 5.5 ng/mL and 6.3 ng/mL. This case implies that troponin I can be significantly increased after a grand mal seizure, and with low clinical suspicion for myocardial injury this abnormality should be disregarded.

A 49-year-old man presented with a 3-week history of vomiting and diarrhea. He reported foamy stools but no blood or melena and had crampy epigastric pain. He denied usage of antibiotics. He had been taking ranitidine for intermittent epigastric pain for the last few months and noted an 11-pound weight loss during the 3 weeks before admission. Stool was positive for Clostridium difficile toxin and Giardia lamblia antigen. Cultures and occult blood tests were negative. Oral metronidazole, 500 mg 3 times a day, was administered, and the patient was hydrated. The diarrhea resolved, and patient was discharged on the fourth hospital day. Prior antibiotic therapy is the most common risk factor for C difficile colitis. This patient developed concomitant infection with C difficile and G lamblia while he used ranitidine. He had no other risk factors for these infections. Hence, we propose that ranitidine-induced hypochlorhydria predisposed this patient to the enteric infections.

Acute febrile lung disease associated with "patchy ground-glass pattern" on high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the lung in an immunocompromised patient is suggestive of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia; however, in an immunocompetent young person, it is suggestive of an atypical pneumonia, including viral bronchopneumonia. We studied a 31-year-old man who presented with fever, cough and hypoxemia. HRCT showed bilateral patchy ground-glass opacification. HIV test was negative and lung biopsy specimen grew adenovirus on viral culture. Histopathology of the lung was compatible with bronchopneumonia. In patients without HIV who present with acute lower respiratory infections and patchy ground-glass opacification on HRCT, adenoviral bronchopneumonia should be included in the differential diagnosis.

Study Objective: To assess the utility of a new parameter in the differentiation of dyspnea of cardiac origin from dyspnea of pulmonary origin., Methods: The peak expiratory flow (PEF) rate and the partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood (PaO(2)) were measured in 71 patients with the chief complaint of dyspnea. The patients were treated in the hospital, and the final diagnosis (cardiac or pulmonary) of the cause of dyspnea was made at discharge. We defined a new measure, the dyspnea differentiation index (DDI), as (PEF x PaO(2))/1,000. We performed a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis of the data to define the measure that best distinguished cardiac from pulmonary dyspnea. The curves also allowed us to establish an optimal cut-off point to distinguish between cardiac and pulmonary dyspnea., Results: Patients with pulmonary dyspnea had a significantly lower mean PEF than patients with cardiac dyspnea (144 +/- 66 vs 267 +/- 97 L/min, respectively; p < 0.001). They also had a lower DDI than patients with cardiac dyspnea (8.4 +/- 4.0 vs 18.4 +/- 7.9 L-mm/min, respectively; p < 0.001). These two measures, PEF and DDI, also best distinguished pulmonary from cardiac dyspnea. PEF was able to diagnose the correct cause of dyspnea in 72% of patients, and DDI was correct in 79% of patients. This compares favorably to the performance of the emergency department physicians, who were able to predict the correct diagnosis in only 69% of patients., Conclusion: These results demonstrate that the PEF by itself is useful in differentiating between cardiac and pulmonary causes of dyspnea, but that the calculation of DDI is superior in this regard.

Human papilloma viruses (HPVs) are known to infect the genitourinary tract, the skin, the anal canal, and the upper respiratory tract. Esophageal papillomas and especially HPV-induced squamous papillomas of the esophagus are rare. The authors report a case of extensive HPV-induced esophageal polyposis, which was probably sexually transmitted. The 53-year-old female patient presented with chronic diarrhea and had occult blood in the stool. She underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy, at which time multiple esophageal polyps were observed and biopsy specimens obtained. Histologic evaluation was consistent with benign papillomas. Polymerase chain reaction and DNA hybridization of the biopsied tissue specimens confirmed the diagnosis of HPV infection. Because of our observation and because of HPV's relationship to cervical and esophageal cancer, further evaluation of HPV as the cause of esophageal papillomatosis and as a risk factor for esophageal cancer is warranted.

Subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord is a rare neurologic complication of folate deficiency. Progressive gait disturbance, weakness, confusion, and depression developed in a 39-year-old man. He had taken phenobarbital for more than 2 years. He was bedbound, with new loss of position and vibration senses in the lower extremities. His hemoglobin was 2.9/dl, mean corpuscular volume 122 fl, vitamin B12 428 pg/ml, and folate 1 ng/ml. Peripheral blood and bone marrow showed megaloblastic anemia. Serum methylmalonic acid and homocysteine levels were consistent with folate deficiency, not B12 deficiency. Treatment with folate and packed erythrocytes resulted at 4 months in overall improvement, including walking. Position sense was restored, and vibration sense had become nearly normal. The authors found no cause for folate deficiency except phenobarbital.