No abstract

No abstract

A 58-year-old woman presents with fever, chills, vomiting, and right-upperquadrant abdominal pain. She has had diarrhea for several days and has lost 15 lb over the last 6 weeks. Six months ago, she took a cruise through the Panama Canal to Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Mexico, and El Salvador.Laboratory studies show an elevated white blood cell count at 22.73 × 10 9 /L (reference The CliniCal PiCTure

Yes, measuring the levels of certain natriuretic peptides can help diagnose decompensated heart failure and predict the risk of death and cardiac hospitalization in patients across a wide spectrum of renal function.However, at this time, it is unclear whether routinely measuring natriuretic peptides will result in any change in the management of patients with chronic kidney disease. Additionally, using these peptides to monitor volume status in dialysis patients has not yet been deemed useful, although it may be complementary to echocardiography in evaluating cardiac risk in patients with end-stage renal disease.