Chronic spontaneous urticaria affects approximately 1% of the general population worldwide, impairs patients’ quality of life, and is associated with multiple comorbidities. Pavel Kolkhir, MD, discusses the current evidence on the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of...
Recent Resources
Long-Term Use of Muscle Relaxant Medications for Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review
Importance: Stricter opioid prescribing guidelines have increased prescriptions of skeletal muscle relaxants (SMRs) for chronic pain, but the efficacy of long-term use of SMRs for chronic pain is unknown.
Objective: To systematically review the effectiveness or efficacy of long-term use...
Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists in heart failure: an individual patient level meta-analysis
Background: Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs) reduce hospitalisations and death in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), but the benefit in patients with heart failure and mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF) or heart failure and preserved ejection...
Diagnosis and Treatment of Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP)
Community-acquired pneumonia is associated with approximately 740 000 hospitalizations and 41 000 deaths in the US annually. JAMA Review authors Scott A. Flanders, MD, and Valerie M. Vaughn, MD, MSc, discuss diagnosis and treatment of community-acquired pneumonia with JAMA Deputy Editor Mary...
Community-Acquired Pneumonia: A Review
Importance: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) results in approximately 1.4 million emergency department visits, 740 000 hospitalizations, and 41 000 deaths in the US annually.
Observations: Community-acquired pneumonia can be diagnosed in a patient with 2 or more signs (eg, temperature...
Evaluation of Suspected Antibiotic Allergies
Antibiotic-associated adverse drug reactions are often mild (eg, nausea or diarrhea) and typically occur 1 to 6 hours after drug exposure. IgE-mediated reactions cause urticaria, angioedema, bronchospasm, or, in severe cases, anaphylaxis. Cell-mediated delayed hypersensitivity can occur over...
Clinical Approaches to the Prevention of Firearm-Related Injury
Firearm-related injuries are an urgent health crisis in the United States, with firearm-related deaths surpassing deaths from motor vehicle crashes in 2017.1 In contrast to other conditions for which clinicians have evidence-based solutions to reduce harm, the 25-year gap in federal research...
Scabies, Bedbug, and Body Lice Infestations: A Review
Importance: Scabies, bedbug, and body lice infestations are caused by organisms that live on or in the skin, on clothing, or in the environment and commonly cause pruritus and rash. In 2021, approximately 622 million incident cases of scabies occurred globally. Data on bedbug infestations are...
Conservative Treatments in the Management of Acute Painful Vertebral Compression Fractures: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis
Importance: Osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (VCFs) frequently cause substantial pain and reduced mobility, posing a major health problem. Despite the critical need for effective pain management to restore functionality and improve patient outcomes, the value of various conservative...
Protection against influenza hospitalizations from enhanced influenza vaccines among older adults: A systematic review and network meta-analysis
Background
Influenza vaccines are available to help protect persons aged ≥65 years, who experience thousands of influenza hospitalizations annually. Because some influenza vaccines may work better than others, we sought to assess benefit of high-dose (HD), adjuvanted (ADJ), and recombinant...