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February 22, 2007  Vol. 356 No. 8

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Perspective
765-768

Dr. Richard Bohmer writes that in-store clinics are increasing in prevalence and appeal to payers, patients, entrepreneurs, and proponents of consumer-driven health care. Physicians, however, express concern about the quality of care and the potential ...

769-771

    In 2006, an outbreak of chikungunya fever swept over a number of islands in the Indian Ocean and India. Drs. Rémi Charrel, Xavier de Lamballerie, and Didier Raoult write that the chikungunya outbreak is an example of the abrupt expression of vectorborne ...

    771-773

    Dr. Adi Gazdar discusses why overexpression of the same two proteins RRM1 and ERCC1 can be both a marker for improved survival in untreated early-stage non–small-cell lung cancer and a marker for chemoresistance and poor survival in patients with advanced ...

    Original Articles
    775-789

    This trial involving more than 6000 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) compared the effects on all-cause mortality of treatment with an inhaler containing both salmeterol and fluticasone, salmeterol or fluticasone alone, or placebo. After 3 years, the study showed a reduction of 2.6 percentage points in the mortality rate; this fell short of the study's prespecified goals. There were improved clinical outcomes among patients treated with the combination regimen.

    790-799

    Coinfection with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) in women with HIV-1 infection is associated with increased genital shedding of HIV-1 RNA. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, suppression of HSV-2 with valacyclovir decreased genital HIV-1 RNA and mean plasma HIV-1 RNA levels in dually infected women in Burkina Faso.

    800-808

    This study of early-stage non–small-cell lung cancer showed that high levels of RRM1 in the tumor were associated with prolonged disease-free survival, as compared with low levels of RRM1. High levels of another protein in the tumor, ERCC1, were also associated with a good prognosis. The major benefit of surgery was confined to the 30% of patients in whom high levels of both RRM1 and ERCC1 were present in the tumor.

    809-819

    The Björnstad syndrome, an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by sensorineural deafness and pili torti, is shown to be caused by mutations in the gene BCS1L, which codes for a protein necessary for the assembly of complex III in the mitochondrion. Ear and hair tissue are exquisitely sensitive to mitochondrial function.

    Clinical Practice
    820-829
    • Full Text Audio

    A 36-year-old man with a 20-year history of type 1 diabetes mellitus, background retinopathy, peripheral sensory neuropathy, and nephropathy presents with a history of several months of nausea and vomiting. On physical examination (performed 1 hour after the patient has eaten), his blood pressure is 130/80 mm Hg while he is lying down and 110/60 mm Hg while he is standing. His abdomen is not tender. There is epigastric distention, but no splash is audible when the upper abdomen is shaken. How should this patient be evaluated and treated?

    Review Article
    830-840

    This review discusses the pathogenesis and management of coronary microvascular dysfunction. Factors to consider in clinical management are the cause of the dysfunction and whether it is iatrogenic, whether obstructive coronary artery disease is present, and whether myocardial disease is present.

    Images in Clinical Medicine
    841
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    A 76-year-old man with hypertension presented with a sudden, painless, and profound loss of vision in the right eye. Visual acuity was light perception only in the affected eye, with a positive relative afferent pupillary defect. Ophthalmoscopic ...

    e7
    • Free Full Text

    This afebrile 8-year-old Ethiopian girl presented with a limp and a small, pus-secreting wound on her left thigh.

    Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital
    842-849

      A 28-year-old man was referred to this hospital for consultation on the management of an enlarging testicular mass. Ten days before the consultation, the right testicle became tender and began to enlarge rapidly. Treatment with antibiotics resulted in decreased tenderness, but the mass persisted. On examination, a 4-cm mass was palpable within the testis. Ultrasound examination disclosed a complex intratesticular mass.

      Editorials
      851-854

      In the United States, the overall, age-standardized death rate decreased from 1242 deaths per 100,000 population in 1970 to 845 deaths per 100,000 in 2002. This good news must be viewed against the doubling during the same interval of the age-standardized ...

      854-856

      The variability in both the clinical progression and transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has prompted a search for cofactors influencing replication of the virus. Although it is clear that host immune and genetic factors, as well ...

      856-857

      Continuity in medical-student clerkships is becoming a thing of the past. There is little continuity between students and teachers, between students and patients, and between specialty-based components of the curriculum. Although block rotations in ...

      Sounding Board
      858-866

      The traditional approach to clinical education has involved a series of rotations in various clinical settings. This article which concludes the medical education series, presents evidence and musters arguments for longitudinal integration of the medical curriculum.

      Correspondence
      867
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      To the Editor: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is finally moving from obscurity to prominence, and so it should. This phenomenon is nicely illustrated by the report on the Towards a Revolution in COPD Health (TORCH) trial by Calverley et al. ...

      868-869

      To the Editor: In their article on the efficacy of chloroquine against Plasmodium falciparum in Blantyre, Malawi, Laufer and colleagues (Nov. 9 issue)1 report adequate clinical and parasitologic responses to chloroquine and the microevolutionary ...

      869-872

      To the Editor: The article by Birks et al. (Nov. 2 issue)1 is an important contribution to further development of a therapeutic approach to idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy that remains controversial despite being repeatedly proved.24 The high recovery ...

      872-873

      To the Editor: In their discussion of pay for performance, Rosenthal et al. (Nov. 2 issue)1 set up a troubling implication regarding attribution of performance for patients who are cared for by multiple physicians. They imply that such attribution is ...

      873-874
      • Free Full Text

      To the Editor: Robertson et al. (Nov. 2 issue)1 discuss the case of a young man with exertional dyspnea, cough, and increasing pain in the right lower quadrant, which was traced to a subcutaneous nodule. Instead of thoracentesis, computed tomography of ...

      874

      To the Editor: Brown et al. (Nov. 16 issue)1 report on a newborn boy with hypotonia and present a list of diagnoses to consider in the floppy infant syndrome, including spinal cord disorders. However, spinal cord lesions caused by injuries and tumors are ...

      874-875

      To the Editor: Despite advances in diagnosis and treatment, acute infective endocarditis remains a therapeutic challenge, with considerable morbidity and mortality. The therapeutic strategies for this condition are currently well defined by the ...

      Book Reviews
      876-877

      In the past decade, medical research with children has been on the rise, a result of federal legislative and regulatory incentives to include children in pharmaceutical research. Because the vast majority of prescription drugs have been tested only in ...

      877-878

      This book begins in the spirit of a muckraker, with the stated mission of exposing “the hidden truth” about medical research or, more precisely, medical research with human subjects. Each year, millions of people enroll as subjects in medical research — ...

      878-879

      Recent revelations about the complicity of doctors and other health professionals in the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay remind us of the vital role that medical personnel can play as guardians of human rights. Some physicians may ...

      Correction
      879

      Medical Progress: Acromegaly Review Article, N Engl J Med 2006:355;2558-2573.. In Figure 3 (page 2565), the text below the “Elevated” box should have read “Perform oral glucose-tolerance test and measure GH level,” not “Measure IGF-I level.” The figure ...