Internal Medicine Commons^™

The Effect Of Mock Code Blue Simulations And Dedicated Advanced Cardiac Life Support Didactics On Resident Perceived Competency., Dallis Q Ngo, Christina Vu, Thien Nguyen, Patricia Sotolongo, Manika Talati, Nikki Zahabi, Katrina Platt

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

In-hospital cardiac or pulmonary arrest is associated with high mortality. In the USA, approximately 200,000 of these events occur and are associated with overall survival rates of 18%-20%. Despite advances in resuscitative methods, the probability of intact survival also remains unfavorable. Though many factors play a role, we believe a large portion of a patient's survival is dependent on the competency of the leader of the code blue or resuscitative team's efforts. Newly minted physicians who enter medical training in their respective residencies are equipped with a wide range of clinical competency in regards to hands-on experience and aptitude with …

Semiautomated Glasgow-Blatchford Bleeding Score Helps Direct Bed Placement For Patients With Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding., Drew B Schembre, Robson E Ely, Janice M Connolly, Kunjali T Padhya, Rohit Sharda, John J Brandabur

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

OBJECTIVE: The Glasgow-Blatchford Bleeding Score (GBS) was designed to identify patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) who do not require hospitalisation. It may also help stratify patients unlikely to benefit from intensive care.

DESIGN: We reviewed patients assigned a GBS in the emergency room (ER) via a semiautomated calculator. Patients with a score ≤7 (low risk) were directed to an unmonitored bed (UMB), while those with a score of ≥8 (high risk) were considered for MB placement. Conformity with guidelines and subsequent transfers to MB were reviewed, along with transfusion requirement, rebleeding, length of stay, need for intervention and death. …

Soft Rock – When Blasting It Doesn’T Work, Mark Schneider, Jesse Powell

Providence Portland Medical Center Internal Medicine 2020

Soft Rock – When Blasting It Doesn’t Work

Mark Schneider, MD

Providence Portland Medical Center – Portland, OR

Additional Authors: Jesse Powell, MD

Case-History of Present Illness: 68-year-old female presents with several days of malodorous urine and fevers. Brought to the ED by her daughter who diagnosed urinary tract infection (UTI) due to the distinct urine odor. No hematuria, dysuria, retention, or incontinence.

Past Medical History: Recent hospitalization for UTI with culture that grew P.mirabilis, completed course of cefdinir, with follow-up culture ordered by PCP that grew extended-spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL) E.coli.

Physical Exam and Vital Signs: Vitals: 115/48, 101, …

Wrap It Up – Sexually Transmitted Primary Cytologmegalovirus Proctitis In Immunocompetent Host: A Case Report, Vanessa Nwaokocha, Brinton Clark, Ronald Dworkin

Providence Portland Medical Center Internal Medicine 2020

Background: In persons who presents with fever, rectal pain and bleeding, CMV proctitis should be considered if other workup is negative, especially if recent unprotected anal receptive intercourse.

Case Presentation: A 26-year-old bisexual man presented with chief complaints of fever, malaise, rectal pain, and rectal bleeding after anal insertion of foreign body. He initially denied any unprotected sexual intercourse. CBC, CMP, stool pathogen, rectal gonorrhea, and rectal chlamydia were unremarkable. He returned after 1 week with the similar complaints, however admitted to unprotected anal receptive intercourse a month prior. His vitals were notable for temperature of 102 with …

Beck’S Tetrad? Adding Pocus To The Clinical Exam For Pericardial Tamponade Improves Diagnostic Accuracy In Obstructive Shock, Cody Wiench, Benjamin Pedroja

Providence Portland Medical Center Internal Medicine 2020

Beck’s Tetrad?

Adding POCUS To The Clinical Exam For Pericardial Tamponade Improves Diagnostic Accuracy In Obstructive Shock

Cody Wiench, MD

Providence Portland Medical Center – Portland, OR

Additional Authors: Benjamin Pedroja, MD

Introduction: Obstructive shock due to tamponade is an important, but rare, cause for sudden cardiovascular collapse. Accurate treatment requires prompt (and correct) diagnosis. Bedside echocardiogram can provide rapid and accurate diagnosis, however the physical exam can provide important clues to consider tamponade. In patients with conditions that predispose them to pericardial disease, such as SLE, one must have a high index of suspicion for tamponade when …

Comparative Detection Of Airway Mrsa In Patients With Community-Acquired Pneumonia (Cap), Hiromichi Park, Shirin Ferdosian Najafabadi, Lian Wang, David Gilbert

Providence Portland Medical Center Internal Medicine 2020

Comparative Detection Of Airway MRSA In Patients With Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP)

Hiromichi Park, DO

Providence Portland Medical Center

Portland, OR

Additional Authors: Shirin Ferdosian Najafabadi; Lian Wang, PhD; David Gilbert, MD, MACP

Introduction: Vancomycin is often included in the empiric therapy of CAP to ensure activity against MRSA. The current gold standard for detection of MRSA in the airway is a nasal swab PCR. The FilmArray sputum pneumonia panel includes PCR probes for MRSA. This study compares the detection performance of the nasal swab versus the sputum PCR detection of MRSA. Clinically, the absence of airway-detectable MRSA allows cessation …

The Dangers Of Gardening – Nocardia Infection In An Immunocompromised Patient, Gerald Hutfles, Justin Jin

Providence Portland Medical Center Internal Medicine 2020

The Dangers Of Gardening –

Nocardia Infection In An Immunocompromised Patient

Gerald Hutfles, DO

Providence Portland Medical Center – Portland, OR

Additional Authors: Justin Jin, MD

Introduction: Nocardia is a gram-positive, partially-acid fast, aerobic, branching bacillus that can be found in soil and water. It is typically an opportunistic pathogen, with most infections occurring in the immunocompromised. Disease can be localized or disseminated, preferring pulmonary, nervous, and cutaneous tissues. Optimal antimicrobial therapy depends on speciation of the isolate, as Nocardia may exhibit variable antimicrobial susceptibility. A high clinical suspicion and appropriate empiric antimicrobial therapy is necessary. This clinical case …

Drugging Chemokine Receptors: Biased Cxcr3 Agonists Differentially Regulate Chemotaxis And Inflammation, Jeffrey Smith, Dylan Eiger, Chia-Feng Tsai, Lowell Nicholson, Rachel Glenn, Priya Alagesan, Amanda Macleod, John Jacobs, Tujin Shi, Sudarshan Rajagopal

Providence Portland Medical Center Internal Medicine 2020

Drugging Chemokine Receptors: Biased CXCR3 Agonists Differentially Regulate Chemotaxis And Inflammation

Jeffrey Smith, MD, PhD

Providence Portland Medical Center – Portland, OR

Additional Authors: Dylan Eiger, BS; Chia-Feng Tsai, PhD; Lowell Nicholson,MD; Rachel Glenn, BS; Priya Alagesan, BS; Amanda MacLeod, MD; John Jacobs, PhD; Tujin Shi, PhD; Sudarshan Rajagopal, MD,PhD

Introduction: G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest class of transmembrane receptors and the target of ~30% of FDA approved drugs. It is now well established that GPCRs can signal through multiple transducers, including classical heterotrimeric G proteins but also GPCR kinases and β-arrestins (1). While these signaling pathways can …

Delirium: Delirious Elders, Implementing Reduction Interventions Using Mobility, Michael Silvas, Joe Miller, Shelley Sanders

Providence St. Vincent Internal Medicine 2020

INTRODUCTION: This quality improvement project involved hiring, training, and managing 3 Delirium Mobility Aids to implement a non-pharmacologic delirium prevention bundle package, including early mobility, on hospitalized patients age >65.

Background: Delirium affects 20-30% of older hospitalized patients [1]. Patients with delirium have double the mortality rate [3], which increases with delirium duration [4]. Delirium worsens long term cognitive functioning [9,10,11,12]. Hospital costs increase by $2,500 per patient, totaling $6,900,000,000 in Medicare expenditures [7]. A single delirium episode increases total yearly costs by ~$64,421 [2]. Research suggests the best treatment is non-pharmacologic multicomponent interventions [6], and those with most …

Addressing The Social Determinants Of Health In The Clinic Setting, Larissa Sharma, Man Tran

Providence St. Vincent Internal Medicine 2020

INTRODUCTION: It is estimated that clinical care accounts for only 20% of health, while behaviors, physical environment, and social and economic factors determine the rest. The social determinants of health include the basic life needs of housing, food, transport, along with other factors that include employment, education, drug and alcohol use, dental and eye care, etc. Insecurity in these socioeconomic factors are expressed in chronic medical illness, mental health problems, substance use, all leading to high healthcare utilization. Healthcare costs and utilization decrease when when these needs are provided for. In a survey of 6,000 Providence patients, 50% expressed …

Lemierre’S Syndrome, Jennifer Nguyen, Tom Chau

Providence St. Vincent Internal Medicine 2020

INTRODUCTION: Lemierre’ssyndrome is a rare and potentially fatal complication of acute pharyngitis most commonly seen in healthy, young adults who present with neck pain and persistent, high-grade fever. It is caused by anaerobic gram-negative organisms, most often Fusobacteriumnecrophorum, spreading into the deep spaces of the neck. This leads to septic thrombophlebitis of the internal jugular vein (IJ) with septic emboli, most frequently to the lungs.

CASE REPORT: A healthy 18-year-old woman presented to the hospital with five days of fever, rigors, sore throat, and left neck pain. She appeared relatively non-toxic but was febrile to 105.6℉ and in septic shock. …

Accidental Botulism Poisoning: A Case Of Pickled Herring, Garrett Spencer, Greg Flick

Providence St. Vincent Internal Medicine 2020

INTRODUCTION: Botulism is a rare cause of neuromuscular weakness that presents a diagnostic challenge in the face of respiratory collapse. Pupil and bulbar paralysis aid prompt recognition and treatment, as clinical confirmation can be time intensive and limited by sample integrity. Early treatment can halt paralysis and prevent ICU and ventilator days.

CASE DESCRIPTION: A 74-year-old male with hypertension and DVT presented with acute weakness and respiratory failure after three days of cough and diarrhea. Upon ICU admission for mechanical ventilation, we discovered sluggish pupils, mild ptosis, and proximal muscle weakness. Symptoms then progressed to unresponsive pupils, complete ptosis, and …

Not Just Kids –A Case Of Adult Iga Vasculitis, Heidi Reich, Jeff Youker

Providence St. Vincent Internal Medicine 2020

INTRODUCTION: IgA vasculitis, formerly known as HenlochSchonleinPurpura, is generally recognized as the most common form of systemic vasculitis in children, with 90% of cases occurring in the pediatric age group. However, the remaining 10% are noted in adult populations, and often has poorer long term outcomes if not identified and treated quickly. IgAVis commonly associated with streptococcal infections, although additional triggers such as drug ingestions, insect bites, and vaccinations have been described. Symptoms can include palpable purpura, acute abdominal pain, arthralgias, and hematuria. Recognizing the constellation of signs and symptoms is key for expediting appropriate therapy, which may reduce long …

Struck By Lightning Twice, Bao-Ngoc Nguyen, Emily Hitchcock

Providence St. Vincent Internal Medicine 2020

INTRODUCTION: ANCA-associated vasculitides (AAV) refer to a group of disorders causing inflammation of small vessels which include granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), and eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA, Churg-Strauss). Here I present a case of MPA vasculitis in a patient with alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency, and describe a proposed causal link between these two rare disease processes.

CASE REPORT: • 43-year-old man with history of newly-diagnosed AAT deficiency liver disease. • Chief complaint of subacute shortness of breath associated with hemoptysis and fever for 5 months. • Symptoms had been progressively worsening despite multiple courses of antibiotics and inhalers. …

Mixed Signals: A Case Of Hypothyroid-Induced Ogilvie’S, Brieanna Brown, Paul Wichienkeur

Providence Portland Medical Center Internal Medicine 2020

Mixed Signals:

A Case Of Hypothyroid-Induced Ogilvie’s

Brieanna Brown, MD

Providence Portland Medical Center – Portland, OR

Additional Author: Paul Wichienkeur, MD

Ogilve's syndrome, or acute colonic pseudo-obstruction (ACPO), is characterized by acute dilation of the colon, in the absence of a mechanical lesion, which obstructs the flow of intestinal contents. Pseudo-obstruction typically occurs in the critically ill, though the underlying pathophysiology is poorly understood and the etiology is often multifactorial. We present a case of a 51-year-old morbidly obese woman presenting with symptoms of severe hypothyroidism found to have massive acute colonic pseudo-obstruction.

Case presentation:

A 51-year-old African-American …

When Less-Virulent Becomes Virulent!! An Atypical Presentation Of Streptococcus Viridians., Samreen Khan, Stavan Patel, Mary Anne Nidiry

Providence Portland Medical Center Internal Medicine 2020

When Less Virulent Becomes Virulent!!

An Atypical Presentation Of Streptococcus Viridians

Samreen Kahn, MBBS

Providence Portland Medical Center – Portland, OR

Additional Authors: Stavan Patel MS, MD

Introduction: There are several cardiac and non-cardiac causes and risk factors for the development of infective endocarditis (IE) in young healthy adults. Some risk factors include prior IE, history of valvular or congenital heart disease, IV drug use, indwelling intravenous lines, immunosuppression, or a recent dental or surgical procedure. Most two common sites of IE are mitral and aortic valve. We present a case of a 45-year-old man with no-known risk factors, …

A Rare Case Of Metastatic Insulinoma In A Patient With Huntington’S Disease, Olesya Petrenko, Brinton C. Clark

Providence Portland Medical Center Internal Medicine 2020

A Rare Case Of Metastatic Insulinoma

In A Patient With Huntington’s Disease

Olesya Petrenko, DO

Providence Portland Medical Center – Portland, OR

Additional Authors: Brinton Clark, MD, FACP

A 49-year-old female with past medical history of Huntington’s disease presents to the ED after being found unresponsive at her assisted-living facility. She was noted to be hypoglycemic with a glucose of 21 and responded to dextrose. For the past several months, patient had symptoms of dizziness, tremors. She has no history of diabetes, and only home medication is Zyprexa. Patient required D10 drip to maintain glucose levels. Given patient’s psychiatric history, …

Pulmonary Nocardiosisin An Immunocompetenthost, Leah Grant, Laura Loertscher, Jennifer Marfori

Providence St. Vincent Internal Medicine 2020

Introduction: • Nocardia is known to cause severe pulmonary or disseminated infection in immunocompromised patients, but can cause infection in immunocompetent patients. Providers should consider Nocardiosis in immunocompetent patients with prolonged and unexplained respiratory failure. • The preferred therapy for pulmonary Nocardiosis is a sulfa antibiotic for 3-6 months. Toxicity from prolonged use of alternative agents presents a therapeutic challenge in those with sulfa allergy.

Case Report: • An 85 year-old woman with a history of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and heart failure with preserved EF presented to her primary care provider with 1 week of cough and progressive dyspnea. Chest …

Unpainfully Sweet, Khoi Nguyen, Alex Schafir

Providence St. Vincent Internal Medicine 2020

Introduction: Sweet's syndrome (ss), or acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis, is characterized by sudden onset of fever, leukocytosis and erythematous plaques or nodules infiltrated by neutrophils. There are three main clinical settings in which Sweet's syndrome has been described: The diagnosis of Sweet’s syndrome often has a temporal association with the discovery or relapse of cancer as reported in this case.

Case Report: A 64-year-old woman with recurrent breast cancer on targeted and hormonal therapy presented to the ED with acute onset of fever and diffuse non-tender body rash. Vitals suggested sepsis and she was treated with broad spectrum …

Purpura Fulminans Due To Mssa Toxic Shock Syndrome, Leah Grant, Rachel Plotinsky

Providence St. Vincent Internal Medicine 2020

Introduction: Purpurafulminansis a rare and serious complication of anacute infectious process, characterized by large purpuricskin lesions, fever, hypotension, and DIC. The mostcommon infectious cause of purpurafulminansismeningococcal disease, though few case reports in theliterature describe Staph aureusas a causative organism.

Case Report: •A 53 year-old woman with a history of heart blocks/ppacemaker placement in 2002 presented to the ED withnausea, vomiting, fevers, chills, diffuse muscle pain and asyncopalepisode. •She was found to have multi-organ dysfunction on labs,including AKI and thrombocytopenia.On hospital day 2, shedeveloped acrocyanosis. She became febrile & hypotensive requiring transfer tothe ICU for vasopressor support. Blood cultures were obtained. …

Swimming Through Lake Placid: A Major Headache, Elizabeth Severson, Claudia Leonard

Providence St. Vincent Internal Medicine 2020

Introduction: Leptospirosis is caused by Leptospira species, a spirochete bacterium that affects animals and humans. The disease can range from mild flu-like illness to multi-organ failure. While likely underreported, the incidence according to the World Health Organization can range from 0.1 to 10 per 100,000 depending on climate Leptospirosis is commonly associated with occupational or recreational exposures

Case Report: A 43 year-old previously healthy man presented with two weeks of myalgias, fevers, neck pain and throbbing headache. The patient competed in an Iron Man event in upstate New York one month prior to presentation. Initial investigation demonstrated a …

Battling The Stigma: Hiv Screening In Resident Primary Care Clinic, Garrett Spencer, Laura Loertscher, Shelley Sanders

Providence St. Vincent Internal Medicine 2020

INTRODUCTION: HIV affects ~1.2 million in the US, with 25% unaware of their statusand annual incidence of 50,000. Early detection and treatment reduces risk of AIDS-related deaths and transmission. Both the CDC and the US Preventative Service Task Force recommend routine HIV screening. The Providence Medical Group at St Vincent (PMG-STV) resident clinic has no routine screening protocol. • 24% (757/3139) of all clinic patients have ever been screened. • Of active clinic patients seen quarterly, 5% are offered screening with only 3% completing screening. We implemented and measured a clinic-wide HIV screening protocol leveraging existing clinic workflows. We aimed …

Catastrophic Antiphospholipid Syndrome, Gabriel Hocum, Jeff Youker

Providence St. Vincent Internal Medicine 2020

INTRODUCTION: Catastrophic Antiphospholipid Syndrome (CAPS) is a rare and extreme manifestation of Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS) that features widespread thrombotic disease affecting multiple small vessels in a short time frame. CAPS affects only 0.8% of APS patients, but when it occurs it is has a mortality rate of approximately 50%.

CASE REPORT: A 50 year old female with SLE and APS presented with 1 month of cough and fatigue and 2 days of severe confusion after missing doses of rivaroxaban. In the ED she was intubated for airway protection and transferred to the ICU. Her evaluation revealed multi-organ failure with extensive …

Ceftriaxone-Induced Immune Hemolytic Anemia From Treatment Of Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome, Jillian Catral, Emily Hitchcock

Providence St. Vincent Internal Medicine 2020

INTRODUCTION: Drug-induced immune hemolytic anemia (DIIHA) is a rare though likely underreported entitythat is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. • Ceftriaxone is a commonly used antibiotics with a well-documented association with DIIHA. The mechanism is a drug-dependent antibody, immune-complex mediated reaction which can be severe, leading to organ failure, shock, and even death. • While the majority of cases are in children, a recent literature review had one-third of cases being adults, with up to 30-40% mortality in all ages. • This case describes an adult patient treated for the controversial diagnosis of post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) …

Chronic Hepatitis B Reactivation: Deadly, But Preventable, Sarah Xie, Jesse Powell, Andrea Roast

Providence Portland Medical Center Internal Medicine 2020

Chronic Hepatitis B Reactivation:

Deadly, But Preventable

Sarah Xie, DO

Providence Portland Medical Center – Portland, OR

Additional Authors: Andrea Roast, MD, FACP; Jesse Powell, MD

A 51-year-old Vietnamese male with chronic hepatitis B presents with symptoms of acute hepatitis. 2 months prior, his PCP had discontinued Tenofovir, for which he had been taking for the past decade, based on an undetectable viral load and a negative HBeAg. 1 month later, his viral load soared to 796 million so Tenofovir was restarted. On admission a few days later, the patient had scleral icterus and jaundiced skin. He had severe transaminitis, …

A Case Of Atypical Pml, Alexander Dreisin, Justin Jin

Providence Portland Medical Center Internal Medicine 2020

No abstract provided.

Vocal Cord Dysfunction Masquerading As Exercise-Induced Bronchoconstriction, Brandon Tempte, Meera Jain, Jason Wells

Providence Portland Medical Center Internal Medicine 2020

Vocal Cord Dysfunction Masquerading As

Exercise-Induced Bronchoconstriction

Brandon Temte, DO

Providence Portland Medical Center – Portland, OR

Additional Authors: Meera Jain, MD, FACP; Jason Wells, MD

Intro: Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB), previously exercise-induced asthma, has a high prevalence in the community. Patients with these symptoms are typically diagnosed clinically and treated empirically with pre-exercise albuterol. Eucapnic voluntary hyperventilation (EVH) has been used to objectively test for EIB and can help to confirm the diagnosis, as well as rule out other causes such as exercise-induced vocal cord dysfunction (EIVCD), which may mimic EIB.

Case Description: A 42-year old female with …

A Case Of Gluten-Induced Delirium: Using Capsule Endoscopy To Diagnose Occult Gi Bleeding, Rachael Starcher, Lisa Sanders

Providence Portland Medical Center Internal Medicine 2020

A Case Of Gluten-Induced Delirium:

Using Capsule Endoscopy To Diagnose Occult GI Bleeding

Rachael Starcher, MD

Providence Portland Medical Center – Portland, OR

Additional Authors: Lisa Sanders, MD

Introduction: Despite an increasing prevalence of celiac disease worldwide, many patients remain undiagnosed, putting them at risk for late stage complications of unidentified and untreated celiac disease. Ulcerative jejunoileitis is a rare cause of occult GI bleeding seen only in refractory celiac disease or in atypical celiac disease at the time of diagnosis. When left untreated, ulcerative jejunoileitis can lead to bowel perforation, blood loss anemia, and T-cell lymphoma.

Case Presentation …

Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia In Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Kelley Newton, Janan Markee

Providence Portland Medical Center Internal Medicine 2020

Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia In Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Kelley Newton, MD

Providence Portland Medical Center – Portland, OR

Additional Authors: Janan Markee, MD

Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia have a 5-10% risk of developing autoimmune complications, the most common of which is autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Here we present a case of AIHA in a patient with suspected CLL that underscores several of the diagnostic and treatment challenges unique to this process. A 79-year old man with a history of hypertension, atrial fibrillation, type 2 diabetes and hypothyroidism was undergoing workup for suspected CLL due to a persistent leukocytosis. He then presented …

A Perplexing Case Of Episodic Abdominal Pain And The Role Of Mast Cells Gastroenteritis, Hayden Smith, Mari Kai

Providence Portland Medical Center Internal Medicine 2020

Here we present a case of chronic intractable vomiting and diarrhea of unknown cause, and introduce the relatively new entity of mast cell gastroenteritis.

Our patient is a 38-year old female with PMH of seronegative rheumatoid arthritis, mixed connective tissue disorder, and several recent hospitalizations over the past 4 months at outside hospitals for suspected colitis with associated vomiting and diarrhea. Current symptoms include 4 days of nausea with intractable vomiting, and 2 days of rectal fullness with mucoid rectal discharge. Previous workup at outside hospitals included multiple abdominal CT scans, flexible sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, and exploratory laparotomy. Prior to admission …