POEMS syndrome is a rare paraneoplastic syndrome due to an underlying plasma cell disorder (PCD). The acronym, which was coined by Bardwick in 1980, refers to several, but not all, of the features of the syndrome: polyradiculoneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal PCD, and skin changes.
Diagnosis
Revised Criteria for Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)
The National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association (NIA-AA) charged a workgroup with the task of developing criteria for the symptomatic predementia phase of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), referred to in this article as mild cognitive impairment due to AD.
The 2017 McDonald Criteria for Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
The 2017 McDonald criteria continue to apply primarily to patients experiencing a typical clinically isolated syndrome, define what is needed to fulfil dissemination in time and space of lesions in the CNS, and stress the need for no better explanation for the presentation.
Revised Criteria for the Clinical Diagnosis of Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB)
The Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) Consortium has refined its recommendations about the clinical and pathologic diagnosis of DLB, updating the previous report, which has been in widespread use for the last decade. The revised DLB consensus criteria now distinguish clearly between clinical features and diagnostic biomarkers, and give guidance about optimal methods to establish and interpret these.
Diagnosis of Porphyria
The porphyrias are disorders of heme synthesis, which has eight steps. Each type of porphyria involves a defect, either inherited or acquired, in a pathway enzyme. When the defect is physiologically significant, it results in overproduction of pathway precursors preceding the defective step which enter the circulation and are excreted into urine or bile. The diseases have been grouped as acute hepatic porphyrias and photocutaneous porphyrias. The acute porphyrias are due to hepatic overproduction of the porphyrin precursors, delta aminolevulinic acid and porphobilinogen, and the symptoms are caused by injury primarily to the nervous system. Cutaneous porphyria is due to overproduction of photosensitizing porphyrins by the liver or bone marrow, depending on the type of porphyria.
Symptoms and Diagnosis of Zika Virus Infection
Zika virus is spread to people through mosquito bites. The most common symptoms of Zika virus disease are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting from several days to a week. Severe disease requiring hospitalization is uncommon.
Criteria for the Diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (DSM-V)
Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by persistent anxiety and uncontrollable worry that occurs consistently for at least 6 months. This disorder is commonly associated with depression, alcohol and substance abuse, physical health problems, or all these factors.
Diagnosis and Determination of Severity of Acute Cholecystitis
Acute cholecystitis is a very common complication of cholelithiasis, and as such is frequently encountered in surgical practice. TG07 diagnostic criteria are recognized as those to be recommended in current care for acute cholecystitis.
Diagnosis of Inflammatory Myopathies
The diagnosis of the exact subtype of inflammatory myopathy is based on the combination of clinical history, tempo of disease progression, pattern of muscle involvement, muscle enzyme levels, electromyographic findings, muscle-biopsy analysis, and for some conditions, the presence of certain autoantibodies.
Guidelines for the Diagnosis of Prolonged Grief Disorder
The death of a loved one is one of life’s greatest, universal stressors to which most bereaved individuals successfully adapt without clinical intervention. For a minority of bereaved individuals, grief is complicated by superimposed problems and healing does not occur. The resulting syndrome of complicated grief causes substantial distress and functional impairment even years after a loss, yet knowing when and how to intervene can be a challenge.