The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) represents a unique opportunity to study the relation between myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy.¹–⁸ Current hypotheses concerning the pathogenesis of cardiomyopathy associated with infection with the ...

The causes, prognosis, and treatment of chronic idiopathic constipation in children under the age of six years are still debated.¹–⁴ The two main hypotheses about its causation are that it is psychogenic⁵,⁶ and that it results from disturbances in ...

In many patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease, there is an initial satisfactory response to levodopa, but then motor fluctuations develop that are difficult to control. The patients alternate between a state of severe parkinsonism (the “off” period,...

Kashin–Beck disease is an osteoarthropathy of uncertain cause that is endemic in Tibet and other areas of China, Siberia, and North Korea — areas where selenium deficiency is also endemic.¹ Affected subjects have varying degrees of joint deformation and ...

Figure 1. A 51-year-old woman presented for evaluation of a mediastinal mass. Eleven years earlier, she had undergone subtotal thyroidectomy for a large, multinodular goiter. The mediastinal mass was first detected on a routine chest film obtained two ...

People without major risk factors for cardiovascular disease in young adulthood and middle age are at lower age-specific risk for death from cardiovascular causes, noncardiovascular causes, and all causes¹–³ and consequently have greater life expectancy ...

Pathophysiology

The establishment of a model of parkinsonism through the administration of MPTP to nonhuman primates has provided important insights into new therapeutic strategies. A typical parkinsonian syndrome develops in the animals that is ...

Presentation of Case

An eight-year-old boy was admitted to the hospital because of a history of respiratory problems and evidence of bronchiectasis.

The boy had been well until three months before admission, when he was seen by a physician because of a ...

In this issue of the Journal, Barbaro and colleagues present the results of a large, prospective study of dilated cardiomyopathy in adults with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.¹ This study confirms the frequency of dilated cardiomyopathy in ...

Constipation is a frequent problem among infants and children. For example, in a U.S. study, 16 percent of parents of 22-month-olds reported that their children had constipation.¹ In the United Kingdom, 34 percent of 4-to-7-year-old children were said to ...

Selenium, as selenocysteine, is an integral component of two important enzymes — glutathione peroxidase and iodothyronine deiodinase — that are present in many tissues, including the thyroid gland. Glutathione peroxidase catalyzes the breakdown of ...

Once viewed as an inevitable consequence of aging, cardiovascular disease is now known to be related to modifiable risk factors, especially smoking, elevated blood pressure, and elevated cholesterol. Numerous preventive interventions have been developed ...

To the Editor: The article by Schwartz and his colleagues (June 11 issue)¹ is the fifth such report by this group implicating prolongation of the QT interval in the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). However, independent confirmation of their ...

To the Editor: The Platelet Receptor Inhibition in Ischemic Syndrome Management in Patients Limited by Unstable Signs and Symptoms (PRISM-PLUS) and Platelet Receptor Inhibition in Ischemic Syndrome Management (PRISM) studies (May 21 issue)¹,² left me ...

To the Editor: Gaucher's disease is the most common lysosomal-storage disorder. It is caused by a deficiency of glucocerebrosidase, which results in an accumulation of glucosylceramide in abdominal organs and bone, sometimes in the nervous system, and in ...

To the Editor: Salit et al. (June 11 issue)¹ report that homeless people in New York City are hospitalized, on average, for longer periods than other low-income people and at a cost often greater than that of providing supportive housing for an entire ...

To the Editor: The results of a recent Canadian study call into question Coren's findings that motor vehicle crashes increase by 8 percent following the change to daylight savings time and decrease by 7 percent after the change to standard time.¹ The ...

The end of the 20th century marks a pivotal point in the history of cardiovascular medicine. There has been an explosive growth in the knowledge base relevant to the field, with new developments ranging from technology-driven interventional strategies and ...

Over the past 20 years the treatment of acute coronary ischemic syndromes has changed remarkably. No longer is the coronary care unit a place where patients are merely monitored or expectant therapy is provided. Rather, the emphasis has changed to early ...

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and of the American Heart Association. These organizations have contributed enormously to the research that has demystified atherosclerosis. We have moved from an era in ...

For most students of medicine, acid–base homeostasis (and its disorders) remains an elusive and arcane subject. This is not surprising: the concepts underlying the clinical management of acid–base homeostasis are complex, involving chemistry as well as ...