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This paper examines the epidemiology of nonfatal firearm violence (NFFV) on the Westside of Chicago over three finite time periods: 2005–2008, 2009–2012, and 2013–2016. The trend analysis will look at any significant changes over the time periods and describe the demographic characteristics of NFFV. A descriptive analysis of Mount Sinai Hospital (MSH) Emergency Department (ED) data was conducted. NFFV patients were identified by specific firearm ICD-9 primary eCode injury categories: accident, assault, legal intervention, undetermined intent, suicide or self-inflicted injury, and legal intervention. The Pearson Chi-square test was conducted to statistically compare the categorical frequencies of the Chicago metropolitan region of injury, cause of firearm related injury, and place of injury by time period. There were a total of 3962 nonfatal hospitalizations at MSH between the three time periods due to gun violence related injuries. Overall, nonfatal hospitalizations were most frequent for those between age groups 16–24 (52.5%). The number of nonfatal hospitalizations decreased with increasing age for the age groups 35–44 (9.7%), 45–54 (3.2%), and > 54 (1.2%). There were significantly more nonfatal hospitalizations in males (n = 3649) than females (n = 312) across the three time periods. However, there was a 74.7% increase in female nonfatal hospitalizations from 2009–2012 to 2013–2016. There were significant racial differences in nonfatal hospitalizations between the three time periods. NFFV continues to be problem on the Westside of Chicago, particularly for young, Black men. The incidence of gun violence however has not changed significantly between 2005 and 2016.

Patient: Male, 76 Final Diagnosis: Drug induced bullous pemphigoid Symptoms: Skin rash Medication: Cephalexin Clinical Procedure: Skin biopsy Specialty: General and Internal Medicine Objective: Unusual clinical course Background: The hallmark of bullous pemphigoid (BP) is widespread tense blisters arising on normal or erythematous skin, often with marked pruritus, the diagnosis of which is confirmed by direct immunofluorescence (DIF). BP is an autoimmune process that can be induced, though rarely, by medications. Drug-induced BP often has atypical clinical presentation, which requires a good understanding of other dermatological conditions with similar presentations, in particular, bullous subtype of erythema multiforme. End organ involvement warrants differentiating it from one of the severe cutaneous adverse reaction (SCAR) syndromes. Case Report: A 76-year-old African American male presented with extensive targetoid purplish skin lesions that clinically resembled atypical erythema multiforme, and one tense blister that raised a concern for BP. The patient presented 6 weeks after treatment with cephalexin for a urinary tract infection. Initial workup showed serum eosinophilia, acute kidney injury and eosinophiluria requiring deliberations on SCAR syndromes. A skin biopsy at an intralesional location showed a negative DIF, however, a skin biopsy at a perilesional site showed a positive DIF, confirming the diagnosis of BP. Conclusions: This case demonstrates an atypical presentation of BP induced by drugs. It emphasizes the need for a greater level of awareness of diagnosis and treatment of the various entities that fall under adverse drug reactions in the elderly. It also highlights the need for appropriate choice of skin biopsy techniques (intralesional versus perilesional) to avoid misdiagnosis, as well as lessons on how to approach dermatologic conditions with end organ involvement for hospitalists and other medical professionals who routinely deal with undifferentiated disease conditions.

A 21-year-old woman was found to have fulminant myocarditis as a result of Coxsackie B infection (a virus shown to exhibit summer-fall seasonality) in mid-December. In this case report, seasonality of enteroviruses is examined, as well as additional factors which may contribute to sporadic cases during winter months. The case report also discusses clinical criteria for endomyocardial biopsy, utility of PCR vs. antibody serological tests, coinfection with multiple serotypes, and rhabdomyolysis in Coxsackie B.

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