KEY QUESTIONS What phenomenon explains the ST elevations in this ECG? What are the features of this condition? What is the clinical significance of this phenomenon?
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A Young Man with Acute Ankle Injury
The patient is a 27-year-old man who complains of severe ankle pain and immobility after stumbling while on a hike. He fell approximately 1 foot onto a rock, landing with his foot in a forced flexion position. View the image taken and consider your next steps, along with possible diagnoses.
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A 46-Year-Old Male Who Presents Due to His Defibrillator Firing
The patient is a 46-year-old male with a history of hypertension and congestive heart failure who presents complaining of his defibrillator firing—twice yesterday and once today. He denies chest pain, shortness of breath, fever, nausea or vomiting. He ran out of his carvedilol about 1 month ago. View the initial ECG and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be.
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A 60-Year-Old Woman with Dark, Painful Plaques on Her Legs
The patient is a 60-year-old woman who presents to urgent care after developing dark areas over both legs over the course of the past few days. They are extremely painful. On examination, there were violaceous and dark brown, retiform plaques, some depressed and some crusted, over the legs. The patient has a history of diabetes, hypertension, and chronic renal insufficiency for which she required hemodialysis. View the image and consider what your diagnosis and next …
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A 31-Year-Old with Pain After Twisting His Ankle
The patient is a 31-year-old male who presents with lateral ankle pain after an inversion injury during a game of basketball. View the images taken and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.
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A 77-Year-Old Man Presents with Dyspnea
KEY QUESTIONS What diagnosis explains the widened QRS? What are the electrocardiographic criteria for making this diagnosis? What rule(s) can help diagnose acute myocardial infarction with an ECG like this?
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An 81-Year-Old Female with a History of A-Fib and a Recent Syncope Event
The patient is an 81-year-old female with past medical history of atrial fibrillation on apixaban who presents to urgent care after a syncopal episode 30 minutes prior to arrival. The patient felt lightheaded while being pushed in her wheelchair and then lost consciousness. There was no trauma. She returned to baseline approximately 2 minutes after the event. There was no seizure activity. The patient denied associated chest pain, shortness of breath, headache, urinary or fecal …
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A 13-Year-Old Girl with Fever, Chills, Dry Cough, and Myalgia
A mother brings her 13-year-old daughter to your urgent care center with a complaint of fever, chills, dry cough, and myalgia for 3 days. On exam, the patient is febrile (101°F). In addition, there is conjunctival injection and blanching erythematous patches on the face and neck. The mother mentions that the family returned from a trip to Brazil 10 days prior. While traveling they ate local food, drank local (unfiltered) water, sustained a few mosquito …
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A 30-Year-Old with a Painful Neck ‘Bump’ and Difficulty Swallowing
The patient is a 30-year-old male who presents with 2 days of difficulty swallowing and what he calls a painful “bump” on the right side of his neck. View the images taken and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.
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A 14-Year-Old Wrestler with Shoulder Pain After a Match
The patient is a 14-year-old boy who reports to urgent care with left shoulder pain after a junior high wrestling match. He is vague about the precise location and possible mechanism of injury but through the physical exam you notice a prominence of the sternoclavicular joint and pain radiating along the clavicle. View the x-ray taken and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be.
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