Will my breast cancer patient need adjuvant chemotherapy? Gene Micro array technology may help answer this question��

March 20, 2007
Will my breast cancer patient need adjuvant chemotherapy? Gene Micro array technology may help answer this question��

Commentary By Sandra D’Angelo, PGY-3

Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women, second only to lung cancer as a leading cause of death from cancer. Experts state that approximately 210, 000 women will be diagnosed in 2006 and about 40,000 will die from the disease.1 According to data compiled by the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program of the National Cancer Institute, 61% of breast cancer cases are diagnosed while the cancer is still confined to the primary site…

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ShortCuts-This Week in the Journals

March 19, 2007
ShortCuts-This Week in the Journals

Welcome to ShortCuts, yet another new feature of Clinical Correlations. Every week we will post what we feelare the 5 most interesting articles from the news and literature with links. We’re not attempting to digest any of this for you or to be all-inclusive, but rather make you aware of some of the more important articles that have been published that we simply do not have time to fully review here at Clinical Correlations. Please let us know your thoughts on this format at…

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More Breaking News for the Glitazones…

March 15, 2007
More Breaking News for the Glitazones…

Coming right on the heels of the recent warning from the FDA about the risk of fractures and Rosiglitazone, the FDA announced on March 9th that pioglitazone (Actos) has also been linked to an increased occurrence of arm, hand, and foot fractures among women taking the drug for treatment of type 2 diabetes. In an analysis of over 15,000 patients followed for up to 3.5 years, the risk of fracture was 1.9 fractures per 100 patient years in the pioglitazone group, compared to 1.0…

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When Should You Order a Serum Fructosamine Level for a Diabetic Patient?

March 14, 2007
When Should You Order a Serum Fructosamine Level for a Diabetic Patient?

Commentary By: Christopher Johnson, MSIV and Glenn Matfin, MD Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, Divsion of Endocrinology

When was the last time you had a diabetic patient in clinic whose hemoglobin A1C was elevated, prompting you to modify their diabetic regimen? You may have scheduled a repeat hemoglobin A1C in 3 months, since you know A1C measures glycemic control over a 3 month period. A serum fructosamine may help give you a snapshot of more recent control.

What is fructosamine?
Fructosamine is…

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The Most Intriguing Medical Facts of 2006

March 13, 2007
The Most Intriguing Medical Facts of 2006

Although it’s almost spring and the spate of “best of the year” lists are now long gone, I recently came across this list from the AMA news. It’s a summary of their most intriguing facts of 2006. It’s fascinating stuff. Some of the highlights with links are below. Click here to view the entire list.

 

65% of elderly patients were on a drug they didn’t need; 64% didn’t get what they needed. People born in 2000 have an average life expectancy

…

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Does the Overuse of Macrolides Lead to Antibiotic Resistance?

March 12, 2007
Does the Overuse of Macrolides Lead to Antibiotic Resistance?

Commentary By: Danise Schiliro, PGY-3

Although intuitively we always worry about creating drug resistance when using antibiotics, there is a surprising lack of well done studies that show a clear causal effect of antibiotic use on the development of subsequent drug resistance. A recent study in Lancet may however lead us to re-evaluate our use of macrolides in everyday practice.

Azithromycin and clarithromycin are two of the most commonly used macrolides for treating respiratory infections. Azithromycin has a long half-life, making it…

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How Do You Approach A Patient with a Non-Ischemic Cardiomyopathy

March 7, 2007
How Do You Approach A Patient with a Non-Ischemic Cardiomyopathy

A 26 year old woman developed uncontrolled hypertension peripartum 5 years prior to this presentation After diagnosis she was intermittently compliant with her medication although remained asymptomatic. She now presents with new onset congestive heart failure. On admission, she was in mild respiratory distress. Her physical exam was notable for tachycardia with a blood pressure ranging from 160/100-200/110. She had a jugular-venous pressure of 8cm, +S4, crackles were present bilaterally 1/2 way up, but no peripheral edema. Labs were notable only for renal insufficiency…

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More Breaking News: Rosiglitazone Linked to Fractures

March 6, 2007
More Breaking News: Rosiglitazone Linked to Fractures

Commentary By: Cara Litvin PGY-3

The FDA recently informed physicians of a report issued by GlaxoSmithKline acknowledging that Avandia (rosiglitazone) has been linked to increased fractures in females (1). The report stems from a review of the safety data from ADOPT (A Diabetes Outcome and Progression Trial) (2), which was a recently published randomized trial of 4,360 patients designed to compare glycemic control with rosiglitazone relative to metformin and glyburide monotherapies. In the published study, there were no unexpected adverse events reported, although…

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