Table of Contents

February 1, 2005; 142 (3)

Articles

  • Patients Exposed to Rofecoxib and Celecoxib Have Different Odds of Nonfatal Myocardial Infarction

    • Stephen E. Kimmel,
    • Jesse A. Berlin,
    • Muredach Reilly,
    • Jane Jaskowiak,
    • Lori Kishel,
    • Jesse Chittams,
    • and Brian L. Strom
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:157-164

    In this case–control study, rofecoxib was associated with higher odds of myocardial infarction than celecoxib. Although cardiovascular effects varied between the different cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors, further studies, preferably randomized trials, are needed to fully understand the differences between them.

  • Outpatient Care Compared with Hospitalization for Community-Acquired Pneumonia: A Randomized Trial in Low-Risk Patients

    • Jordi Carratalà,
    • Núria Fernández-Sabé,
    • Lucía Ortega,
    • Xavier Castellsagué,
    • Beatriz Rosón,
    • Jordi Dorca,
    • Ana Fernández-Agüera,
    • Ricard Verdaguer,
    • Joaquín Martínez,
    • Frederic Manresa,
    • and Francesc Gudiol
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:165-172

    The authors identified patients who had community-acquired pneumonia, were in Pneumonia Severity Index risk class II and III, and did not have a compelling reason for hospitalization. They randomly assigned these patients to outpatient or inpatient treatment with levofloxacin. Outpatient care was as safe and effective as hospital care and was more satisfying.

  • Association between Screening for Osteoporosis and the Incidence of Hip Fracture

    • Lisa M. Kern,
    • Neil R. Powe,
    • Michael A. Levine,
    • Annette L. Fitzpatrick,
    • Tamara B. Harris,
    • John Robbins,
    • and Linda P. Fried
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:173-181

    In this controlled, nonrandomized trial of screening for osteoporosis in older adults, people in 2 states received dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry of the hip. In 2 other states, they received no screening. Screening was associated with 36% fewer incident hip fractures over 6 years. This effect was larger than expected, which raised concerns about unmeasured factors influencing fracture rates differently in the 2 groups.

Improving Patient Care

  • Responding to the Rofecoxib Withdrawal Crisis: A New Model for Notifying Patients at Risk and Their Health Care Providers

    • Anil Jain,
    • Ashish Atreja,
    • C. Martin Harris,
    • Meghan Lehmann,
    • Jon Burns,
    • and James Young
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:182-186

    The authors' institution used its electronic medical record to rapidly identify and notify individual patients and their providers about the withdrawal of rofecoxib. For medical practices with electronic medical records, this experience is a model for mass communication with patients about urgent health care issues.

Review

  • Obstructive Sleep Apnea

    • Sean M. Caples,
    • Apoor S. Gami,
    • and Virend K. Somers
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:187-197

    Obstructive sleep apnea remains an important public health problem because of its neurocognitive sequelae. This review covers the epidemiology, clinical presentation, and diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea; the cardiorespiratory physiology of normal and disordered sleep; the pathophysiologic mechanisms of obstructive sleep apnea during sleep and wakefulness; and resulting cardiovascular diseases.

Clinical Guidelines

  • Screening for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: Recommendation Statement

    • U.S. Preventive Services Task Force*
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:198-202

    The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends one-time screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) by ultrasonography in men who have ever smoked. It makes no recommendation for or against screening for AAA in 65- to 75-year-old men who have never smoked and recommends against routine screening for AAA in women.

  • Screening for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: A Best-Evidence Systematic Review for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

    • Craig Fleming,
    • Evelyn P. Whitlock,
    • Tracy L. Beil,
    • and Frank A. Lederle
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:203-211

    According to the best-quality evidence on screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), inviting men age 65 years and older to attend AAA screening reduces AAA-related mortality.

Editorials

  • Cardiovascular Risks of Cyclooxygenase-2 Inhibitors: Where We Stand Now

    • Axel Finckh and
    • Mark D. Aronson
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:212-214

    The authors believe that cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors, in particular at higher dosages and for longer-term use, should not be a first-line therapy for patients who can tolerate alternative therapies. We urgently need further research to document the safety of long-term use of COX-2 inhibitors and nonselective nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

  • Decisions about Treating Community-Acquired Pneumonia

    • Lionel Mandell
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:215-216

    Physicians often admit patients with community-acquired pneumonia who are at low risk according to the Pneumonia Severity Index. Before randomly assigning low-risk patients to inpatient or outpatient care, the authors of a trial reported in this issue first excluded patients with a compelling medical or social reason for hospital admission. The good outcomes suggest that evaluating patients for outpatient treatment should be a 2-step process.

  • Bone Density Screening: A New Level of Evidence?

    • Steven R. Cummings
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:217-219

    In this issue, Kern and colleagues report that a cohort of older women and men who underwent bone mineral density (BMD) measurement at the hip had a lower rate of hip fractures than a cohort who did not have this testing. Although confounding may explain these results, we should recommend BMD testing, preferably of the hip, to white women older than 65 years of age and to younger women with strong risk factors for fracture.

  • Using Information Technology To Transfer Knowledge: A Medical Institution Steps Up to the Plate

    • Robert Badgett and
    • Cynthia Mulrow
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:220-221

    Jain and colleagues' report in this issue shows one example of using information technology to communicate medical knowledge about a dramatic event: the withdrawal of rofecoxib. We must find ways for institutions to do it right every day, even when the event is not high-profile.

On Being a Doctor

  • House Call

    • Audrey Young
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:222-223

    I hesitated on the sidewalk in front of the building. I didn't make house calls as a hospitalist, and now I wished I'd had some practice. There wasn't any pressing reason to visit, since Helen's injury wasn't grave or urgent, and we had no major treatment decisions to make. I was calling unannounced, in jeans and a wool cap. If only I had an agenda to open and close the visit.

  • The Iridescence of Old Ladies

    • John McClenahan
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:224

    She was one of my first patients—well born, feisty, loyal. A flirt. She came to me with her most trifling complaints—perhaps, I secretly hoped, as an excuse to chat. Slender, elfin, twice a year at my office door she parked her Ford station wagon and without a word laid a box of Godiva chocolates and a quart of Wild Turkey on the table. Eventually her daughters brought her to Heavenly Rest, where she sits at her window and waits, unburdened by reason or regret.

Letters

  • A Clinical Prediction Rule for the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

    • Matthew H.M. Ma,
    • Shey-Ying Chen,
    • Wen-Chu Chiang,
    • Chan-Ping Su,
    • and Wen-Jone Chen
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:225

  • A Clinical Prediction Rule for the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

    • Timothy H. Rainer,
    • Irene O.L. Wong,
    • and Gabriel M. Leung
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:225-226

  • Manipulative Therapy for Patients with Shoulder Symptoms

    • Richard C. Galgano
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:226

  • Manipulative Therapy for Patients with Shoulder Symptoms

    • Gert J.D. Bergman,
    • Jan C. Winters,
    • and Geert J.M.G. van der Heijden
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:226-227

  • Dose-Dense Chemotherapy for Node-Positive Breast Cancer

    • Marc L. Citron
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:227

  • Glycemia and Risk for Cardiovascular Disease

    • Mayer B. Davidson
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:227

  • Glycemia and Risk for Cardiovascular Disease

    • Hertzel C. Gerstein
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:227-228

  • Registration of Clinical Trials

    • Alain Braillon,
    • Gérard Dubois,
    • and Michel Slama
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:228

  • Registration of Clinical Trials

    • Christine Laine and
    • Harold C. Sox
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:228

  • The Curse of Tantalus

    • Mark H. Beers
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:228-229

  • Professionalism and the Medical Student

    • Nancy R. Angoff
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:229

  • Endocarditis Due to a Novel Cardiobacterium Species

    • Susan E. Hoover,
    • Steven H. Fischer,
    • Rebecca Shaffer,
    • Bryan M. Steinberg,
    • and Daniel R. Lucey
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:229-230

  • Dysphagia Aortica

    • Anthony A. Hilliard,
    • Narayana S. Murali,
    • and A. Scott Keller
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:230-231

Medical Writings: Book Notes

  • Generalist Medicine and the U.S. Health System: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Series on Health Policy

    • JudyAnn Bigby
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:232

  • Headache: Key Diseases Series

    • Shanker Dixit
    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:232

Ad Libitum

Medical Notices

  • Medical Notices

    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:0

Summaries for Patients

  • Cyclooxygenase-2 Inhibitors and Heart Attacks: Varying Effects?

    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:I-21

  • Can Patients with Pneumonia Take Their Antibiotics at Home?

    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:I-30

  • Association between Osteoporosis Screening and Hip Fracture Rates in Adults 65 Years of Age and Older

    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:I-51

  • Screening for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: Recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

    Ann Intern Med February 1, 2005 142:I-52
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This Issue

February 1, 2005; 142 (3)
  1. Articles
  2. Improving Patient Care
  3. Review
  4. Clinical Guidelines
  5. Editorials
  6. On Being a Doctor
  7. Letters
  8. Medical Writings: Book Notes
  9. Ad Libitum
  10. Medical Notices
  11. Summaries for Patients

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