Review Article

Advanced, Neglected Basal Cell Carcinoma

Although basal cell carcinoma (BCC) rarely metastasizes and has a cure rate 995% when diagnosed early in its course, BCC causes significant morbidity and presents an enormous burden to the healthcare system worldwide. Patients who present late in the course of their disease are particularly challenging in that their treatment…

Review Article

Canine-Assisted Therapy in the Inpatient Setting

Canine-assisted therapy (CAT) is widely used in outpatient settings, yet there is little published literature regarding its use, effi- cacy, and safety in the inpatient setting. The primary objective of this review was to consolidate published information regarding CAT ef- ficacy and safety in the inpatient population. The secondary objective…

Review Article

Hyperuricemia, Gout, and Related Comorbidities: Cause and Effect on a Two-Way Street

The prevalence of gout and hyperuricemia has increased dramatically during the last several decades, to the point that gout is the most common inflammatory arthritis in the United States, affecting approximately 8 million Americans. Patients with gout frequently have multiple comorbidities, including hypertension, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes,…

Original Article

Gastrointestinal Cancers in Mississippi

Objectives: According to a 2007 US Census Bureau report, Mississippi is the poorest state in the United States and is ranked last among all 50 states for overall quality of health. The objective of the study was to describe gastrointestinal (GI) cancers in Mississippi overall and the Mississippi Delta region…

Invited Commentary

Commentary on “Canine-Assisted Therapy in the Inpatient Setting”

Much of the evidence pertaining to the efficacy of animals, particularly dogs, used as therapeutic tools has been anecdotal. Snipelisky and Burton’s review in this issue of the Southern Medical Journal of the existing literature of studies on this topic is timely and serves to consolidate a variety of sources…

Review Article

Serum Biomarkers for Traumatic Brain Injury

There is a lack of reliable serum biomarkers for routine use in the diagnostic workup of people with traumatic brain injury. Multiple biomediators and biomarkers have been described in the pertinent literature in recent years; however, only a few candidate molecules have been associated with high sensitivity and high specificity…

General Information

CME Instructions

CME Instructions

Original Article

Risk Factors for Inadequate Colonoscopy Bowel Preparations in African Americans and Whites at an Urban Medical Center

Objectives: Poor bowel preparation leads to inadequate examinations and shorter surveillance intervals for colorectal cancer screening. Previous studies regarding risk factors for inadequate preparation have not included large numbers of African Americans. Our aim was to determine the prevalence of inadequate bowel preparation on initial and follow-up colonoscopy in a…

Invited Commentary

Commentary on “Impact of an Academic–Community Partnership in Medical Education on Community Health: Evaluation of a Novel Student-Based Home Visitation Program”

In this issue of the Southern Medical Journal, Rock and colleagues1 describe a new service-learning home visitation program, Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine Green Family Foundation NeighborhoodHELP, and its impact on preventive health. In their program, interprofessional teams consisting of medical, nursing, social work, and law students…

Invited Commentary

Commentary on “Advanced, Neglected Basal Cell Carcinoma”

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) accounts for approximately 80% of all skin cancers, with approximately 1 million new cases diagnosed annually. These tumors remain locally aggressive with exceedingly low metastatic potential (

Original Article

Surge in US Outpatient Vitamin D Deficiency Diagnoses: National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey Analysis

Objectives: In light of the growing medical interest in the potential consequences of vitamin D deficiency, it is important that clinicians are informed about the varying factors that may complicate the assessment of vitamin D status and the diagnosis of deficiency. To better understand the frequency of vitamin D deficiency…

Review Article

Investigational Biomarkers for Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: Where Do We Stand?

Although the outcomes for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remain disappointing, there has been considerable improvement in the 5-year survival rate of patients with resectable disease. As such, an R0 surgical resection (microscopic tumor clearance) offers patients with PDAC the greatest survival benefit. Carbohydrate antigen 19-9, the only US Food and…

Invited Commentary

Commentary on “Surge in US Outpatient Vitamin D Deficiency Diagnoses: National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey Analysis”

Vitamin D is an essential vitamin and hormone, the critical function on bone mineralization of which is well established and accepted. Low vitamin D levels are detrimental to health and should be treated with vitamin D supplementation; however, the definitions of vitamin D deficiency, dose for supplementation, and need for…

Original Article

Impact of an Academic–Community Partnership in Medical Education on Community Health: Evaluation of a Novel Student-Based Home Visitation Program

Objectives: Current US healthcare delivery systems do not adequately address healthcare demands. Physicians are integral but rarely emphasize prevention as a primary tool to change health outcomes. Home visitation is an effective method for changing health outcomes in some populations. The Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine Green…

Invited Commentary

Commentary on “Investigational Biomarkers for Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: Where Do We Stand?”

In most patients, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is associated with poor prognosis because of the presence of advanced-stage disease at the time the diagnosis is established.1 Surgical resection in conjunction with adjuvant chemotherapy represents the only option with curative intent; however, tumor invasiveness of surrounding tissues, including major vessels, renders most…

Original Article

Missed Esophageal and Gastric Cancers after Esophagogastroduodenoscopy in a Midwestern Military Veteran Population

Objectives: Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) with biopsy has become the standard procedure for diagnosing esophageal and gastric cancers (EGC) and is considered to have high sensitivity and specificity. To date, few studies have attempted to examine the rates of missed EGC after EGD and no study addresses the rate of missed EGC…

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