Latest Articles
- Linda Hengstler, publisher, editor, and friend, ends 14-year stint at CCJM
Under Ms. Hengstler’s guidance, the Journal has found and grown into its niche as an increasingly appreciated and widely read educational publication for the busy clinician.
- Diagnosis of lupus: A glass half full
The tests will always be imperfect, but with better knowledge of how they perform, we can look at the clinical laboratory’s role in lupus diagnosis as a glass half full rather than half empty.
- Chronic tension-type headache: Advice for the viselike-headache patient
About 3% of people complain of daily viselike headaches without associated symptoms. Therapy consists of tricyclic antidepressants, biofeedback, and stress management, although solid data are lacking.
- Halting the progression of heart failure: Finding the optimal combination therapy
Recommendations on how to find the optimal combination of agents that can slow the progression of heart failure while minimizing side effects.
- Advances in treatment of chronic hepatitis C: ‘Pegylated’ interferons
New formulations of interferon alfa that incorporate polyethylene glycol in the drug molecule are an important advance in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C.
- Tired, aching, ANA-positive: Does your patient have lupus or fibromyalgia?
Do not rely on the antinuclear antibody test to make the distinction between fibromyalgia and lupus.
- Idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis: Prompt diagnosis preserves organ function
The chief dangers from idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis— ureteral obstruction with loss of renal function, and other organ involvement—are avoidable and treatable with prompt diagnosis.
What is the best way to diagnose streptococcal pharyngitis?Rapid tests are highly specific but less sensitive. Throat culture is still the gold standard.
- When is perioperative ‘steroid coverage’ necessary?
Although data are lacking, it seems prudent to boost glucocorticoid doses in the perioperative period for patients receiving long-term steroid therapy.
