Contributor: Michael Hunt, MD Educational Pearls: Tetracycline antibiotics such as minocycline can cause greyish hyperpigmentation This hyperpigmentation can sometimes be reversible but not always Minocycline has been used for its effects in autoimmune and neurological diseases, where it is often taken chronically, which can lead to increased pigmentation References La Placa M, Infusino SD, Balestri…
Read MoreContributor: Peter Bakes, MD Educational Pearls: While there are many different types of medical error, one of the most common errors in emergency medicine is failure to diagnose Systematic error in thinking that negatively affects judgement Medical errors are often driven by cognitive biases, which include anchoring, attribution, and availability Anchoring bias occurs when…
Read MoreAuthor: Sam Killian, MD Educational Pearls: Abuse occurs by breathing in volatile substances such as solvents, glues, paints, butane, and propane Inhalants are generally depressants Estimated that 100-125 people die every year in the US from acute inhalant abuse. Short-term effects include memory impairment, slurred speech, diplopia, seizures, and cardiac arrhythmias Long term effects include…
Read MoreAuthor: Nick Hatch, MD Educational Pearls: Pregnancy is a hypercoagulable state, which predisposes women to venous thromboembolism, but also elevates levels of circulating d-dimer A recent study evaluated the YEARS protocol in combination of adjusted d-dimer cutoffs in pregnant women to evaluate for DVT and PE Using this protocol, only 1 DVT was missed. No…
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