Cardiac Arrhythmias Fredrick J. Jaeger DEFINITION Broadly defined, cardiac arrhythmias are any abnormality or perturbation in the normal activation sequence of the myocardium. The sinus node, displaying properties of automaticity,…
Pancreatic Disorders Tyler Stevens ACUTE PANCREATITIS Definitions Acute pancreatitis (AP) is an inflammatory condition of the pancreas that can extend to extrapancreatic tissues. AP is broadly classified as mild or…
Pulmonary Function Testing Thomas R. Gildea, Kevin McCarthy Pulmonary function testing has come into widespread use since the 1970s. This has been facilitated by several developments.1,2 Because of miniaturization and…
Tick-Related Infections Alan Taege Ticks are the vectors of at least 10 clinically significant zoonotic illnesses in the United States (Box 1). These illnesses may be caused by bacterial, viral,…
Pericardial Disease Ron Jacob, Richard A. Grimm ACUTE PERICARDITIS Definition Acute pericarditis is an inflammatory process involving the pericardium that results in a clinical syndrome with the triad of chest…
Common Benign Growths Justin G. Woodhouse, Kenneth J. Tomecki Human skin is subject to a variety of common benign growths, but most never require medical attention. Management (or lack thereof)…
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Michael S. Chen, Harry Lever DEFINITION AND ETIOLOGY Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is defined as hypertrophy of the myocardium more than 1.5 cm, without an identifiable cause (Fig. 1). Other…
Viral Hepatitis Hepatitis A Talal Adhami, William D. Carey DEFINITION AND ETIOLOGY Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a cause of acute liver inflammation or hepatitis. It can cause relapsing signs…
Systemic Scleroderma Soumya Chatterjee DEFINITION AND ETIOLOGY Scleroderma, or systemic sclerosis (SSc), is a chronic multisystem autoimmune disease characterized by a vasculopathy, diffuse fibrosis of skin and various internal organs,…
Structural Disorders of the Esophagus Edgar Achkar Dysphagia, a common symptom in those with esophageal disorders, can arise from a multitude of underlying causes. Dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing, refers to…
