2/5💡"Not all cirrhotics are created equal"-> It's important to distinguish compensated from decompensated cirrhosis! The latter indicates a much worse prognosis.
Some hallmarks of decompensated cirrhosis:
▪️ascites
▪️hepatic encephalopathy
▪️variceal bleed.
3/5💡Hepatic encephalopathy is not a stand-alone diagnosis. It's a sign of an underlying issue & you need to find the cause!
For that, you can turn to VIBES!
4/5 VIBES is a general mnemonic we use to approach patients with cirrhosis & keep track of their complications. Stands for:
💧V= Volume (ascites/HRS)
🦠 I= Infection (mainly SBP)
🩸 B= Bleeding (Variceal)
😖 E= Hepatic Encephalopathy "HE"
🦀 S= Screening (for HCC) & Transplant
5/5 You can use the same mnemonic to think of causes of HE in broad buckets:
💧V= hypovolemia, electrolyte imbalance (hypoK)
🦠 I= SBP & any other infection
🩸 B= Bleed, portal vein thrombosis, recent TIPS
😖 E= Missed meds(lactulose), toxin(alcohol), hypoglycemia
🦀 S= New HCC
• • •
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1/ 34 y/o F with new AML dx on chemo (7+3) ANC 200. Counts are expected to continue to drop & not get better for at least another ~10d. Has been febrile 🌡️🔥 & on cefepime 2g q8 for the past 5 days💊💉. What do you do next?
1/36 y/o F hx of anxiety p/w a 2nd episode of transient chest pain w emotional stress & her admission EKG shows 4 mm ST elevations in leads V1-V3. Her 1st troponins check was high. She is currently chest-pain free & vitals are normal.
3/ You look up and notice the STEMI pathway chart conveniently plastered above your workstation‼️
You recognize the patient's presentation is consistent with ACS and her ST elevations meet criteria for STEMI---> you appropriately escalate and decide to call "code STEMI" 🚨📞
3/ What are your ULT options? Check out the awesome slide below.
Takeaways:
💊Start with allopurinol! It will give you the biggest bang for your buck
💊Your target UA level is 6⃣- titrate q2-4 weeks
💊Start prophylactic therapy at the same time (NSAID, colchicine, pred)
2/ First, the spleen is a complex, beautiful & underrated organ. There, we said it. 🤷
It’s so great that 15% of people have an extra accessory spleen
The spleen has 3 general components: A marginal zone & 2 pulps.
3/ ↔️Marginal Zone: Free-flowing transit space for immune cells, where antigens are captured by dendritic cells and B cells (i.e. as APCs) prior to migration to white pulp.
⚪️White Pulp: Physically exclusive lymphoid tissue where T and B cells mature 👶👧👩👵