Additional education of IM and EM house staff on the Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines is warranted, along with more consistent feedback regarding their diagnosis and management of sepsis.
A 50-year-old woman presented with worsening fatigue and shortness of breath. For 2 months, she has been having increased craving for unpeeled lemons and was seen in clinic about a month prior to presentation at the emergency room. At that time, she was asymptomatic except for endorsing craving for lemons. Physical exam findings at presentation noted obesity, sinus tachycardia, pallor, mild scleral jaundice and no other stigmata for chronic liver disease. Her labs suggested iron-deficiency anaemia (IDA), elevated liver enzymes and positive antimitochondrial antibody titre. Abdominal ultrasound and CT scan showed mild scarring. She was diagnosed with primary biliary cholangitis with portal hypertension complicated by oesophageal varices and IDA. Interventions included blood transfusion, oesophageal banding and treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid. Her craving for lemons, shortness of breath and fatigue resolved within 1 week. With ongoing outpatient follow-up and oesophageal variceal surveillance, she continues to do well.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.