Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Georges Juvelekian, James K. Stoller Recently, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has gained interest as a major public health concern and is currently the focus of…
Multiple Myeloma Rachid Baz, Brian Bolwell DEFINITION Plasma cell disorders are a heterogeneous group of diseases characterized by a clonal population of B cells (plasma cells) that produce a monoclonal…
Polymyalgia Rheumatica and Giant Cell Arteritis Molloy Eamonn, Curry L. Koening, Gary S. Hoffman Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and giant cell arteritis (GCA) are two related, immune-mediated, inflammatory conditions that occur…
Pregnancy and Heart Disease Anjli Maroo, Russell Raymond Cardiac diseases complicate 1% to 4% of pregnancies in women without preexisting cardiac abnormalities. A working knowledge of the normal physiology of…
Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Disorders Octavian C. Ioachimescu, J. Walton Tomford TAXONOMY Mycobacteria other than Mycobacterium leprae, M. tuberculosis, and M. bovis were identified from human sources as early as 1885, but…
Esophageal Cancer Ahmed Absi, David J. Adelstein, Thomas Rice DEFINITION Esophageal cancer has long been considered one of the deadliest malignancies, and considerable controversy has surrounded its management. The most…
Alzheimer’s Disease Jinny Tavee, Patrick Sweeney DEFINITION Originally described by Alois Alzheimer in 1907, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has emerged as the most common type of dementia in the elderly today.1…
Infectious Disease Emergencies Nabin K. Shrestha Infectious disease emergencies are conditions that have potential for significant harm to the patient if not recognized and treated promptly, and for which timely…
