Inflammatory Response

A previously healthy 6-year-old female is hospitalized with mild dehydration, diarrhea and abdominal pain. The pain is described as chronic and recurrent over a few years. She had previously been evaluated in the gastrointestinal clinic about 1 year earlier, where, at that time, she was found to be healthy. Her travel history was positive for spending a month in Cuba to visit relatives when she was about 2 years of age. The parents thought the abdominal pains began shortly after that trip. There has been no other travel. The family has no pets, but she is frequently exposed to neighborhood cats and dogs. The family history is unremarkable, with no sick contacts.

No mechanism has been definitively proved as the cause for elevated troponin in patients with COVID-19, but researchers suggested that risk factors such as myocarditis, ACE2 downregulation, type 2 MI and cytokine storm may be associated with myocardial injury in those with the disease.

Patients with type 2 diabetes who were prescribed metformin prior to a major surgery had reduced risks for mortality and readmission in the 90 days following the procedure, according to a retrospective cohort study published in JAMA Surgery.

Vaping changes the microbiome of the mouth, making those who vape more prone to infections and inflammation, according to research published in iScience.

A 71-year-old Native American female presented with a chief complaint of constant blurred vision at distance and near in the right eye, which began 2 weeks ago.