Lithium Toxicity
Lithium: acute overdose is usually benign if adequate hydration is maintained and renal function is normal; chronic toxicity can be difficult to manage and result in devastating neurotoxicity
Month January 2019
Methylene Blue
CLASS MECHANISM OF ACTION (1) low concentrations: methylene blue -> NADPH-dependent reduction to leucomethylene blue (due to action of methaemoglobin reductase) -> reduces methaemoglobin -> Hb(2) high concentrations: methylene blue -> converts ferrous iron of reduced Hb to ferric ion…
Hilar adenopathy DDx
Hilar lymphadenopathy, seen on chest x-ray or chest CT, can be classified as unilateral or bilateral, and if bilateral as symmetrical or asymmetrical.
Validity of Research and Measurements
OVERVIEW In general terms, validity is “the quality of being true or correct”, it refers to the strength of results and how accurately they reflect the real world. Thus ‘validity’ can have quite different meanings depending on the context! Reliability…
Aspiration Pneumonia
Aspiration Pneumonia = aspiration of oropharyngeal contents which includes colonizing flora and leads to infection.
Propofol-related Infusion Syndrome
Propofol-related Infusion Syndrome is a life-threatening condition characterised by acute refractory bradycardia progressing to asystole
Popular Misconceptions About Evolution
Ask the average lay person what they take the word evolution to mean, and few will reply “the change in the genetic frequency of a population over time”. The lack of understanding can be further evidenced by US figures where only 45% of people hold true the statement “human beings, as we know them, developed from earlier species of animals”.
Sodium Valproate
Sodium Valproate: anticonvulsant; decreasing neuronal excitability or enhancing inhibition of neuronal transmission.
Protamine
Protamine: neutralization of heparin. Strongly basic protamine + strongly acid heparin -> forms stable salt -> removed by reticuloendothelial system.
Prostacyclin or Epoprostenol
Prostacyclin or Epoprostenol: -> used in the treatment of RV failure and pulmonary hypertension
Atrial Fibrillation DDx
Atrial fibrillation is an irregularly irregular tachydysrhythmia characterised by the presence of chaotic fibrillation waves on ECG, rather than p waves, due to disorganised electrical activity in the atria.
The Candirú
Having a toothpick fish (the Candiru) take a detour up your urethra doesn't really bear thinking about. Apparently the worst thing that can happen to a parasite is to end up inside the wrong host...