Guillain–BarrÉ syndrome is characterized by loss of reflexes and symmetric paralysis, usually beginning in the legs, with eventual nearly complete or complete clinical recovery in most cases.¹,² It is mediated by an immune response that results in the ...

Sexual transmission has a major role in the spread of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). The semen of infected men may contain high levels of HIV-1, and infectious viruses can be recovered from seminal cells or seminal fluid from these men.¹–⁴ ...

The search for a positive inotropic drug that could relieve symptoms and improve the prognosis in patients with heart failure who were already being treated with angiotensin-converting–enzyme (ACE) inhibitors led to the development of vesnarinone, a drug ...

Low birth weight (less than 2500 g) and birth weight that is low for gestational age are associated with increased perinatal morbidity and mortality,¹ short- and long-term childhood morbidity and mortality,²,³ and a range of cardiovascular and metabolic ...

Some degree of stimulation of the thyroid gland by human chorionic gonadotropin is common during early pregnancy.¹–³ When serum chorionic gonadotropin concentrations are abnormally high — for example, in women with molar pregnancies — overt ...

Figure 1. A 41-year-old man had a two-day history of constant upper-abdominal pain, diarrhea, and fever (temperature as high as 40°C). The blood pressure was 139/59 mm Hg, and the pulse rate was 100 beats per minute. Physical examination revealed ...

Primary aldosteronism resulting from an adrenocortical adenoma (aldosteronoma), as described by Conn,¹ is one of a few potentially curable forms of hypertension. Aldosteronoma is the most common cause of primary aldosteronism. Aldosteronomas are usually ...

Presentation of Case

A 19-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because of a febrile illness.

The patient had been well until five weeks earlier, when a dry cough developed. Two weeks later, bouts of fever and chills began, and the cough became ...

In about two thirds of cases, the immune neuropathy known as the Guillain–Barré syndrome is provoked by an acute infectious illness. In the autumn of 1976, there was an unexpected increase — by a factor of four to eight — in the number of cases of the ...

The use of highly active antiretroviral therapy to control infection with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is in many ways a success story. Under optimal circumstances, combinations of drugs that inhibit the viral protease and reverse ...

Looking back reveals how the direction of therapy for heart failure has changed since the inception of the first large clinical trial of vesnarinone, an inotropic agent, in April 1990. At that time, many investigators remained interested in the concept of ...

Dexfenfluramine (Redux) was withdrawn from the market in the United States in 1997 amid speculation that millions who used it could have been harmed.¹–³ More recently, mibefradil (Posicor) was withdrawn because of suggestions that it may have serious ...

To the Editor: The study by Dreifuss et al. (June 25 issue)¹ comparing rectal diazepam gel with placebo for the treatment of acute repetitive seizures raises the issue of whether the use of placebos in studies of serious illness for which accepted ...

To the Editor: The Image in Clinical Medicine by Diehl and Linden (July 30 issue)¹ shows the cardiovascular changes associated with neurocardiogenic syncope. Unfortunately, the syncope progressed to a generalized seizure. I question the ethics of ...

To the Editor: Cholesterol atheroembolism has repeatedly been featured in review articles¹ and clinical pathological conference (CPC) cases in the Journal. ² The July 30 CPC³ is a reminder that discussants eliminate cholesterol atheroembolism from their ...

To the Editor: Goldenberg and Rouse (July 30 issue)¹ correctly emphasize the need to define further the causes of the preterm birth syndrome in order to identify, treat, and prevent implicated processes in susceptible mothers. The authors' failure to ...

To the Editor: Metformin is an effective treatment for many patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Although it lowers serum vitamin B₁₂ concentrations, it does not cause anemia.¹ We describe a patient with metformin-induced hemolysis and jaundice.

A 46-...

To the Editor: Abciximab (ReoPro, Eli Lilly, Indianapolis, and Centocor, Malvern, Pa.), a new antiplatelet agent, is used during high-risk percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). In the Evaluation of 7E3 for the Prevention of Ischemic ...

To the Editor: In her perceptive Occasional Note (June 18 issue),¹ Dr. Poulson does not mention two of the most demeaning bitter pills that are common in oncology and that can influence how physicians treat patients with cancer.

It is common to refer to ...

It is hard to imagine that just a short time ago it was possible to think about lung disease with little attention to immunity and inflammation. After all, pulmonary pathophysiology was, and remains, best described in biomechanical and biochemical terms. ...

Asthma is one of the commonest chronic diseases. It causes great disability and presumably shortens life. Asthma-related mortality has not been fully assessed, however, and mercifully, the disease rarely kills. Deaths due to asthma have only recently been ...

Ankylosing spondylitis and its related disorders form a group of conditions that have intriguing clinical, radiologic, and immunogenetic features but that are relatively poorly understood and frequently lead to diagnostic difficulties and problems with ...