Pulmonary
The Southwest Journal of Pulmonary and Critical Care publishes articles broadly related to pulmonary medicine including thoracic surgery, transplantation, airways disease, pediatric pulmonology, anesthesiolgy, pharmacology, nursing and more. Manuscripts may be either basic or clinical original investigations or review articles. Potential authors of review articles are encouraged to contact the editors before submission, however, unsolicited review articles will be considered.
July 2013 Pulmonary Case of the Month: Swan Song
Bridgett Ronan, MD
Lewis J. Wesselius, MD
Department of Pulmonary Medicine
Mayo Clinic Arizona
Scottsdale, AZ
History of Present Illness
A 53 year old man presented to the emergency department with a 2 week history of progressive dyspnea. He thought it was anxiety due to quitting drinking just before the onset of his symptoms. He also had fatigue and malaise.
PMH, SH, FH
He had no significant past medical history or family history. He did not smoke but drank 2-6 beers/day until 2 weeks prior to presentation.
Physical Examination
BP 110/60 mm Hg, P 110 beats/min, R 32 breaths/min, T 37.6° C, SpO2 81%
He is pale and appears mildly dyspneic otherwise his physical exam is unremarkable.
Chest Radiography
His chest x-ray is shown in figure 1.
Figure 1. Initial PA (Panel A) and lateral (Panel B) chest x-ray.
Which of the following laboratory tests is/are not indicated?
- Arterial blood gases
- Complete blood count
- Spiral thoracic CT angiography
- Urinanalysis
- All of the above
Reference as: Ronan B, Wesselius LJ. July 2013 pulmonary case of the month: swan song. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care. 2013;7(1):1-9. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13175/swjpcc081-13. PDF