For patients in rural areas, primary care is often their only access to healthcare services, and skin concerns are among the most common diseases seen in these settings. This study aims to investigate the most common skin conditions, management trends and patterns of referral to dermatology in a rural and underserved community in South Florida. A retrospective chart review was conducted using medical records from the C.L. Brumback Primary Care Clinic in Belle Glade, FL. The most common skin conditions were fungal infections, unspecified dermatitis, pruritus, skin cancer concern, alopecia, and autoimmune skin disorders. The most frequent management strategy was medication prescription followed by specialist referral. Of the 21 percent of patients referred to a specialist, 55 percent of these were to dermatology. The most common diagnoses referred to dermatology were atopic dermatitis and alopecia. Only 20 percent of these patients reported attending their follow-up appointment, and the average distance to referral was 21 miles. Belle Glade is unique in its need for and access to dermatologic care. The lack of access to specialists in rural communities is a public health issue that more studies and outreach initiatives should address.
Dorcé-Medard DO et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY 4.0., which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
The management of pancreatitis can be daunting, especially when associated with other comorbidities. These complexities in management are conflicting in the presence of comorbidities with a similar presentation, such as abdominal pain. Acute pancreatitis (AP) has been associated with mesenteric thrombosis but less commonly with superior mesenteric vein thrombosis (SMVT) as a causal or complicating dilemma. This case report describes the careful intrigues and overlaps in presentation. Furthermore, this paper presents a dilemma in that contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) may not be recommended in the early stage of diagnosis of AP according to the 2013 American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) guideline, but SMVT, which can be fatal, sometimes, complicates AP, and contrast-enhanced CT is important in its diagnosis. This paper attempts to address this dilemma. Managing these two potentially fatal pathologies requires promptness and thoughtfulness in averting a deadly outcome. Because SMVT is fatal, in this paper, we reiterate the use of contrast-enhanced CT in the early stages of the management of AP. Fatal complications from AP should not be missed. Although contrast-enhanced CT is not recommended in the early stages of diagnosis of AP in the ACG guideline, fatal complications such as SMVT can be avoided.
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