Importance: Hypertension, defined as office systolic blood pressure (SBP) 130 mm Hg or greater and/or diastolic blood pressure 80 mm Hg or greater, affects 43.9% of women and 49.5% of men in the US. Approximately 19.7% of patients treated for hypertension have apparent resistant hypertension (...
Recent Resources
Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy: A Review
Importance: Heart failure (HF) affects more than 64 million individuals worldwide, and acute HF is associated with 1-year mortality rates of 23.6% in North America and Europe. Cardiac dyssynchrony from conduction system disease may cause HF progression, particularly in patients with left...
Diagnosis and Treatment of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is a peripheral vestibular disorder that can negatively affect quality of life and daily functioning and increase the risk of falls. BPPV is caused by dislodged otolith particles that become trapped in any of the 3 inner ear semicircular canals (...
Prepregnancy Care and Counseling: A Review
Importance Prepregnancy care and counseling optimize maternal health before conception to improve outcomes for mothers and infants. In the US, 66.4% of reproductive-aged women have at least 1 modifiable risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Observations For all individuals...
Diagnosis and management of bronchiectasis
Bronchiectasis is a chronic, debilitating respiratory condition that affects people of all ages. It is most prevalent in women and those older than 60 years, and prevalence is increasing. Patients have daily excessive sputum and associated symptoms, recurrent chest infections and impaired health...
Chronic, Noninfectious Diarrhea A Review
Chronic diarrhea is defined as loose or watery stools lasting longer than 4 weeks and affects approximately 6% to 7% of adults in the US. More than 90% of patients with chronic diarrhea have a noninfectious etiology.
Observations The most common causes of chronic, noninfectious diarrhea...
Management of Orthostatic Hypotension: A Review
Importance: Orthostatic hypotension is a common but underrecognized condition that increases with age and is associated with a lower quality of life, falls, and increased mortality. The frequent coexistence of supine hypertension and postprandial hypotension with orthostatic hypotension makes it...
Does This Child Have a Concussion?: The Rational Clinical Examination Systematic Review
Importance: Concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury with associated abnormalities in brain function, rather than structural injury. An estimated 1.1 million to 1.9 million pediatric concussions occur annually in the US.
Objective: To determine the accuracy of clinical history and...
Celiac Disease
Celiac disease, a common autoimmune condition affecting approximately 1% of the population, can develop with exposure to gluten at any age. Diagnosis involves serologic testing, especially for IgA antibodies against tissue transglutaminase, and may include tests to confirm the presence of...
Clinical Examination of the Lumbar Spine
Low back pain is one of the most common causes of health care visits and has the highest global prevalence of all musculoskeletal conditions. Although musculoskeletal back pain is often temporary and self-limited, it may represent more worrisome pathologic conditions that can lead to permanent...