Internal Medicine Commons^™

A True Bloody Emergency: An Unusual Case Of Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, Joshua M. Ninan

Research Symposium

Background: Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a primary thrombotic microangiopathy that is classically characterized by thrombocytopenia and microangiopathic hemolytic anemia (MAHA). Although rare with an annual incidence of 3.7 cases per one million adults, it is considered a true hematological emergency due to its fatality rate of almost 100% if appropriate treatment is not initiated immediately. This makes it vitally important to identify and treat patients with TTP, a task that becomes unusually challenging in the absence of the disorder’s other characteristically diagnostic clinical features such as mucosal bleeding, fever, or presence of schistocytes.

Case Presentation: A 30-year-old gentleman with …

Reorganising For Covid-19 Pandemic: A Review Of Structural Modifications By The Department Of Internal Medicine In Low To Middle-Income Countries, Shakeel Ur Rehman, Muhammad Arslan Ahmed, Ghufran Adnan, Maria Ali Khan

Department of Medicine

Scientists classified the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as a novel coronavirus on January 7, 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledged the SARS-CoV-2 outburst a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020. Since its origin, this virus has disrupted the best healthcare systems, economies, and strained financial resources; and for underdeveloped countries' healthcare systems, the virus has become a crisis. To tackle the potential hazards from this virus, our Department restructured the services that not only helped us to cope with the pandemic, but also provided an example to copy for other contemporary institutes. …

Strategies To Improve Control Of Blood A1c In Diabetics, Jennifer Aronson, Leanne Bellino, Elizabeth Eisenhardt, Diane Bryant, Haley Pelletier, Internal Medicine Team, Adult Outpatient Clinic

MaineHealth Maine Medical Center

A1c monitoring is an important aspect of controlling the health of a diabetic patient. An adult internal medicine clinic noted that the percentage of their diabetic patients who had an A1c higher than 9 or no reading within the past year exceeded the national average. As a result, operational excellence methods were implemented with the overall goal to reduce their percentage to 18% or less.

A root cause analysis identified several deficiencies to includelack of essential equipment, variations in

staff education and the absence of daily reminders.

Post KPI implementations, an overall decrease in the percentage of patients with poorly …