The patient is a 57-year-old female who presents to urgent care with progressive shortness of breath and chest pain of “several weeks” duration. On exam, she is nonobese, normotensive, slightly tachycardic, and tachypneic with clear lungs and distant heart sounds. View the initial ECG taken and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.
Read MoreA 65-Year-Old Man with Shortness of Breath and a History of Heart Failure
A 65-year-old male with a history of heart failure presents to an urgent care center with shortness of breath of 2 days duration. He denies chest pain, nausea, or vomiting. He reports that he ran out of his medications about a week ago. View the ECG and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page. (Case presented by Catherine Reynolds, MD, McGovern Medical School, …
Read MoreClavicular Pain in a 23-Year-Old
Case A 23-year-old man presents to an urgent care with pain at the distal end of his left clavicle that began the previous day after he fell onto his left shoulder while mountain biking. His pain is constant and sharp and worse when moving his left arm and shoulder. He does not have fever, vomiting, chest pain, shortness of breath, or abdominal pain, and he has no head injury, no head or neck pain, and …
Read MoreProductive Cough and Chills in an Adult
A 37-year-old woman without a significant past medical history presents after 3 days of a cough that produces yellow sputum with some streaks of blood. She has not checked her temperature but says she has “felt warm” and has some chills. She does have associated shortness of breath, but she reports that she has not had chest pain, leg pain or swelling, sweating, or headache. She has a history of hypertension, and she takes an …
Read MoreMan with Fever and Sore Throat
A 37-year-old man presents to an urgent care center after 2 days of fever and sore throat. He reports that the soreness is worse with swallowing. He reports that he did not have any preceding rhinorrhea or myalgias. He has had no exposure to ill persons, and he has no history of previous illnesses. He reports that he smokes cigarettes and occasionally drinks alcohol. View the image taken (Figure 1) and consider what your diagnosis …
Read MoreChronic Cough and Shortness of Breath
A 74-year-old man without a significant past medical history presents to an urgent care center reporting 3 days of coughing productive of green sputum, shortness of breath that worsens with exertion, and chills. He says he has a chronic morning cough but states that the sputum has changed color and that his dyspnea has increased. He says he has not had any fever, chest pain, or lower extremity pain or swelling. View the image taken …
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