Chapter 6 Acute Lower Gastrointestinal Bleed Key Points General 1 Lower gastrointestinal (GI) bleed has a mortality rate of approximately 5%. 2 Diverticulosis is the most common cause of hematochezia….

Chapter 8 Acute Upper Gastrointestinal Bleed Key Points General 1 Acute upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleed has a mortality rate of approximately 10%. 2 Gastroduodenal ulcers are the most common cause…

Chapter 19 Hyponatremia Key Points 1 Hyponatremia is defined as a serum sodium concentration below 135 mmol/L. 2 Hyponatremia is the most common electrolyte abnormality in hospitalized patients. 3 Patients…

Chapter 12 Clostridium Difficile Infection Key Points 1 Recent antibiotic use and inpatient hospitalization are major risk factors for Clostridium difficile infection. 2 Cytotoxin assay is the gold standard for…

Chapter 7 Acute Pancreatitis Key Points General 1 On admission, obtain: • Serum amylase and lipase. Levels three times the upper limit of normal are diagnostic. • Serum calcium and…

Chapter 9 Anemia Key Points 1 Anemia refers to reduced red blood cell (RBC) mass. 2 The mean corpuscular volume represents the average RBC size and is used to classify…

Chapter 2 Heart Failure Key Points 1 Systolic heart failure (HF) is caused by impaired ventricular ejection of blood. Diastolic HF results from impaired relaxation and filling of the left…

Chapter 15 Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Key Points 1 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) refers to fixed airflow obstruction caused by chronic bronchitis (productive cough for at…

Chapter 13 Community-Acquired Pneumonia Key Points 1 Aspiration pneumonia accounts for up to 15% of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) cases, and refers to a lung infection caused by inhalation of oropharyngeal…

Chapter 16 Acute Asthma Key Points 1 Asthma is a chronic inflammatory respiratory disease that is increasing in prevalence and accounts for $6 billion in health care costs annually. 2…