Thursday, December 23, 2010

Cases du Jour

17-month-old boy with a small patch of erythema at the base of his penis.  There is warmth, but no induration or fluctuance.  He seems uncomfortable during recent diaper changes.  Upon closer inspection, there is a circumferential crease-like indentation on the penile shaft.  Theory: a hair tourniquet possibly causing microscopic breaks in the skin, letting bacteria in, and leading to the development of cellulitis?  After a short course of keflex, the erythema has disappeared and everything is back to normal.

40-yr-old male with branch retinal vein occlusion of the L eye (his only symptom was a 2-month history of blurry vision) diagnosed by an optometrist who sent him to clinic for a full systemic disease workup, since most patients with this condition are over the age of 65.  This affable man is 30 lbs overweight, drinks 6 to 10 beers daily, has smoked 2 packs of cigarettes a day for the past 20 years, and has an elevated blood pressure of 148/100.  I think it's kind of obvious why he had the equivalent of a stroke in his eye.  It's no surprise when his fasting cholesterol turns out to be sky high, and I send him home with a prescription for morning aspirin and a bedtime statin after politely reading him the riot act about modifying diet & exercise and cutting down on tobacco & alcohol use.

P.S. They still use demerol here!  For migraine headaches!  I've never seen demerol used outside of Season 3 Episode 5 of Mad Men when Betty Draper was in labor and became dreamily hallucinogenic after receiving a shot of demerol for pain...

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