Syncope Fetnat Fouad-Tarazi, Laura Shoemaker, Ken Mayuga, Fred Jaeger DEFINITION Syncope is an abrupt loss of consciousness with a concomitant loss of postural tone. Presyncope, also called near syncope, is…

Obesity Stacy Brethauer, Sangeeta Kashyap, Philip Schauer DEFINITION AND ETIOLOGY Obesity has become an important public health problem in industrialized countries throughout the world. The body mass index (BMI =…

Kidney Function Assessment by Creatinine-Based Estimation Equations Martin E. Lascano, Emilio D. Poggio Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has been recognized as a common health care problem, and therefore the National…

Takayasu’s Arteritis José Hernández-Rodríguez, Kathleen Maksimowicz-McKinnon, Gary S. Hoffman DEFINITION AND ETIOLOGY Takayasu’s arteritis (TA) is a large-vessel vasculitis of unknown etiology that has a predilection for the aorta and…

Diabetic Nephropathy Saud Butt, Phillip Hall, Saul Nurko DEFINITION AND CAUSES Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is typically defined by macroalbuminuria—that is, a urinary albumin excretion of more than 300 mg in a…

Perioperative Evaluation Christopher M. Whinney Operative treatment of disease has a tremendous yet unrecognized impact on modern medical systems. An estimated 26 million patients underwent surgery in the United States…

Clostridium difficile Thomas G. Fraser, James F. Swiencicki DEFINITION AND CAUSES Clostridium difficile is an obligate anaerobic, spore-producing, gram-positive rod that was first described in 1935. Its link with pseudomembranous…

Sleep-Disordered Breathing Marie M. Budev, Joseph A. Golish Humans spend almost 30% of their lives sleeping. Since the 1970s, physicians have begun to recognize many of the detrimental consequences of…

Chronic Nonmalignant Pain Edward C. Covington, Manu Mathews DEFINITION The International Society for the Study of Pain defines pain as an “unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or…

Lipid-Lowering Strategies and Reduction of Coronary Heart Disease Risk Byron J. Hoogwerf, Julie C. Huang Observational studies have shown a relation between dyslipidemia and coronary heart disease risk for several…