By Kristian Dye This week I’m looking at two very sad cases of stillbirth in Cali, Colombia. When we think of disease caused by social circumstance we often imagine non-communicable diseases or infectious diseases, usually where poor living conditions loom large in the aetiology. When we consider the higher rates of genetic birth defects in […]
Category: Editor case review
Comments from Dr Dean Jenkins on cases of particular interest.
Plant sterol enriched margarines increase cardiovascular risk?
Maybe the assumption that natural substances can do no harm has again been shown to be wrong. Are these margarines good or bad for you? A case published in BMJ Case Reports this week raises an interesting question about plant sterol-enriched margarines and cardiovascular risk. They reduce LDL cholesterol but do not seem to reduce […]
Side effects of evidence-based medicine
This case highlights the challenge of implementing evidence-based medicine and guidelines. Each patient is an individual and may not fit within the group that has helped define the evidence for a particular clinical procedure. In this article the authors discuss two cases of pre-operative patients that did not fit the ‘healthy’ group they were thought […]
Iatrogenic vitamin K deficiency and life threatening coagulopathy
This is a reminder of an important clinical lesson that highlights the risk of vitamin K deficiency in the critically ill. The authors give a thorough account of the presentation, possible consequences and literature review in this case making it a rewarding and educational report. I note with interest the reviewer’s comments about not wanting […]