Age-Adjusted D-dimer Cutoff Levels to Rule Out Pulmonary Embolism: The ADJUST-PE Study
What d-dimer threshold do you use to determine if a patient potentially has a pulmonary embolism? Do you adjust it according to the patient's age? Is that even valid? This prospective validation study helps answer this question: Does adjusting the…
PESIT Trial
Thank you Dr. Noah Duncan for an excellent overview of the PESIT trial (Prevalence of Pulmonary Embolism among Patients Hospitalized for Syncope) Conclusions of the study: Pulmonary embolism was identified in nearly one of every 6 patients hospitalized for a…
BRIDGE TRIAL
Thank you Thomas Vu for your excellent overview of the BRIDGE trial (Perioperative Bridging Anticoagulation in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) Conclusions of the study: In patients with atrial fibrillation who had warfarin treatment interrupted for an elective operation or other elective invasive…
Pulmonary Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Thank you Dr. Annie Belzowski for an excellent presentation of pulmonary squamous cell carcinoma complicated by pulmonary abscess
Teaching Points
- Common causes of pulmonary abscess:
- Bacterial: Anaerobic bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Mycobacteria
- Fungal: Aspergillus, Coccidioides, Histoplasma, Blastomyces, Cryptococcus
- Non-infectious: malignancy, embolism, vasculitis, scarcoidosis
- Clindamycin preferred agent, time course dependent on follow up imaging
- Common forms of lung cancer: adenocarcinoma (40%), small cell (15%), squamous cell (30%)