Case of the Month
A Crashing Asthmatic
A 24-year-old woman with a history of brittle asthma is brought to the Emergency Department by her boyfriend. She is very short of breath and wheezy and her condition deteriorates rapidly. Following back to back nebs, hydrocortisone and IV magnesium sulphate, she is...
An Overdose with an Unknown Substance
A 30-year-old woman presents having taken an overdose of an unknown substance. She is drowsy and slurring her speech. Her observations are as follows: HR 116, BP 91/57, SaO2 96% on air. GCS 11/15. The results of her arterial blood gas (ABG) on air are shown below:...
A Vomiting Medical Student
A 21-year-old medical student presents with severe retrosternal pain, pain on swallowing, and breathlessness. Over the weekend he went on a heavy drinking binge after finishing his exams and spent most of the previous evening vomiting and retching forcefully. You...
An Intravenous Drug User with Back Pain
A known intravenous drug user of no fixed abode presents with very severe back pain, fever, and left leg weakness. He has been woken at night several times because of the pain and is having difficulty walking. On examination he has tenderness over the lower lumbar...
A Homeless Man with a Head Injury
A 61-year-old man of no fixed abode suffers a head injury during a fall. You organise a full set of bloods and a CT scan of the head as part of his work up. The bloods show deranged liver function tests and a macrocytic anemia. The CT scan of the head is reported as...
Sudden Onset Severe Abdominal Pain
A 68-year-old man with a history of rheumatoid arthritis presents with sudden onset severe abdominal pain. On examination his abdomen is rigid, with generalized tenderness, guarding and rebound tenderness. An erect chest X-ray is performed, which is shown below:...
Drug-Induced QT Prolongation
A patient is discovered to have new onset QT prolongation when an ECG is performed as part of a cardiovascular assessment. He tells you that he was recently prescribed a new medication by his GP and wonders if that may be the cause. 1. What is a prolonged QT interval?...
A Student with a Sore Throat
A 19-year-old student presents with a one-week history of a sore throat, low-grade fever, and malaise. She states that a week ago she had a fine rash over her body that faded quickly. On examination you note the presence of mild splenomegaly. 1. What is the most...
A 30-Year-Old Man with a Strange Rash
A 30-year-old man presents with a rash on his hands that has been spreading proximally over the past couple of days and is now involving his trunk. He has recently suffered an infection. The rash is shown below: 1. What is the most likely diagnosis? This gentleman has...
A 32-Year-Old Man with Recurrent Haematuria
A 32-year-old man presents with recurrent episodes of haematuria and flank pain. On examination he has bilateral masses in his flanks and 3+ blood in his urine dipstick. He has a history of recurrent urinary tract infections and difficult to control hypertension. 1....
