General Information
Announcement
CME Instructions
SMJ // July 2013, Volume 106 - Issue 7
Review Article
Women with Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection: Recommendations for Clinical Practice
The natural history of hepatitis C virus infection differs between women and men. Women demonstrate a slow rate of disease progression until menopause. Older women are more likely to develop fibrosis and are less responsive than younger women to pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Women of childbearing age have higher rates…
Original Article
Providing Guidance to Patients Physicians’ Views About the Relative Responsibilities of Doctors and Religious Communities
Objectives: Patients’ religious communities often influence their medical decisions. To date, no study has examined what physicians think about the responsibilities borne by religious communities to provide guidance to patients in different clinical contexts. Methods: We mailed a confidential, self-administered survey to a stratified random sample of 1504 US primary…
Review Article
Ischemic Heart Disease in Women
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women. Although overall mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD) has decreased, there are subsets of patients, particularly young women, in whom the mortality rate has increased. Underlying sex differences in CHD may be an explanation. Women have more frequent symptoms, more…
Review Article
Laboratory Diagnosis of Antiphospholipid Syndrome
Antiphospholipid syndrome is an intriguing clinical entity encountered by all physicians because of the wide range of clinical manifestations involving every organ system. Ordering a single test under the name “antiphospholipid antibody” does not rule out this entity. There are overlapping but distinct autoantibodies, and a positive result in one…
Original Article
Academic Productivity and Its Relationship to Physician Salaries in the University of California Healthcare System
Objectives: To evaluate whether physicians with higher academic productivity, as measured by the number of publications in Scopus and the Scopus Hirsch index (h-index), earn higher salaries. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Participants were ophthalmologists, otolaryngologists, neurosurgeons, and neurologists classified as “top earners” (>$100,000 annually) within the University of…
Original Article
Individual Risk Factors and Complexity Associated with Congenital Heart Disease in a Pediatric Medicaid Cohort
Objectives: To determine the sex and race differences associated with specific congenital heart diseases (CHDs) and the patterns of concomitant conditions associated with eight severe, complex lesions. Methods: A 15-year Medicaid dataset (1996–2010) from one state was analyzed for 14,496 patients aged 17 years and younger and diagnosed as having…
Editorial
Editor’s Note: Dr John B. Thomison Sr
It is with regret that the Southern Medical Journal announces the passing of its editor emeritus, Dr John B. Thomison Sr, on April 21, 2013. Dr Thomison served as editor-in-chief from September 1977 until December 1992 and was the longest serving editor in the modern era since M.Y. Dabney, MD…
Original Article
Outlet Constipation 1 Year After Robotic Sacrocolpopexy With and Without Concomitant Posterior Repair
Objectives: The aim of this study was to estimate the rate of outlet constipation at 1 year after robotic sacrocolpopexy (RSCP) with and without a concomitant distal posterior repair (PR). We sought, first, to determine the rate of persistent outlet constipation and second, to determine de novo outlet constipation. Methods:…
Original Article
Fibrinolytic Therapy Versus Primary Percutaneous Coronary Interventions for ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction in Kentucky Time to Establish Systems of Care?
Background: Fibrinolytic therapy is recommended for ST-segment myocardial infarctions (STEMI) when primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) is not available or cannot be performed in a timely manner. Despite this recommendation, patients often are transferred to PPCI centers with prolonged transfer times, leading to delayed reperfusion. Regional approaches have been developed…
Review Article
Considerations in Women with Hypertension
Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in women in the United States, and hypertension is a major contributor to cardiovascular mortality. The incidence of hypertension in women is steadily increasing, paralleling the epidemics of obesity and diabetes. Blood pressure control rates among women are suboptimal, even when…
Invited Commentary
Commentary on “Providing Guidance to Patients Physicians’ Views About the Relative Responsibilities of Doctors and Religious Communities”
My mother and I joined a grief support group at her retirement center shortly after my father died. Mr S., a recent widower, joined the group at approximately the same time. He was depressed and withdrawn. His rare comments during discussions revealed how his wife’s death had devastated him. Despite…
Editorial
A New Women’s Health Series
Beginning with this issue of the Southern Medical Journal, we will feature a series of articles from the University of Mississippi Medical Center on specific medical aspects of women’s health. This series was developed and edited by Stephen Geraci, MD, the Journal’s Assistant Editor for Medicine and Medical Specialties. His…
