Clinical

Why is this urine bag purple?

Figure 1 Quiz of the Week An 80-year-old female with a history of diabetes and chronic constipation presents to the emergency department with a purple urine bag. She is currently bedridden and uses an indwelling catheter. On examination, she is hypotensive and confused. Blood cultures are positive for Proteus vulgaris. Image credit: @ctip.   Answer: Ciprofloxacin...

Did a drug interaction complicate this injury?

Figure 1 Quiz of the Week A 76-year-old male presents with a progressive headache, dizziness, and confusion after falling from his bed the night before. He currently takes warfarin following a mechanical valve replacement 11 years ago, and has been recently diagnosed with depression. A CT scan reveals a subdural hematoma and the patient’s INR...

What’s causing this persistent cough?

Figure 1 Quiz of the Week A 75-year-old female presents with a two-year history of a persistent cough and fatigue. The cough is occasionally productive of purulent sputum. She was treated for a community-acquired pneumonia two years earlier and underwent an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion previously, but is otherwise well. On examination, she appears...

Why is this patient profoundly hypotensive?

Figure 1 Quiz of the Week A 70-year-old male is brought to the emergency department with subacute shortness of breath and fatigue. Upon searching her father’s home, his daughter reports she found his medication — a nearly empty bottle of metoprolol, 100 mg bid. She believes her father has coronary artery disease. On examination, the...