medical presentation

#Visual system

Flashes and floaters

By Dr. Ahmed Hafez

Overview Flashes and floaters are a common ophthalmic presentation. Flashes and floaters are common presenting complaints. They can be caused by both benign and potentially sight-threatening pathologies. For this reason, most patients usually warrant a referral to ophthalmology. Flashes Photopsia, or ‘flashes’, refer to the perception of light without an objective stimulus. They may be described as seeing ‘stars’, ‘lightening streaks’ or ‘flashing lights’. They are essentially visual hallucinations of light with geometric-like structures (e.g. triangles, diamonds). The underlying aetiology of ‘true’ flashes is inappropriate stimulation of the optic nerve or the retina. The main mechanism is retinal traction occurring

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#Neuroscience

Headache

By Dr. Ahmed Hafez

Overview Headache is a very common clinical presentation. Headache refers to pain felt in any region of the head, which also includes behind the eyes and ear or in the upper neck. It is an extremely common presentation and can be broadly divided into primary headaches and secondary headaches. Primary headaches: a headache not caused by or attributed to another disorder. In other words, the headache itself is the primary disorder. Examples include tension-type headache, migraine, and cluster headache Secondary headaches: a headache caused by another underlying disorder. In other words, the headache is a symptom of another pathological process.

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#Accidents and injuries #Musculoskeletal

Back pain

By Dr. Ahmed Hafez

Overview Back pain refers to pain experienced in a patients’ back that is often in the lower regions. Back pain is an extremely common presentation that is estimated to affect a significant proportion of adults at some point during their life. The majority of back pain is felt in the lower lumbar region (known as low back pain) and is usually self-limiting. There are a variety of causes and it is important to be able to differentiate non-specific back (i.e. in the absence of an underlying disorder) from a sinister cause (e.g. discitis, cancer). Location The location of back pain

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#Gastrointestinal

Abdominal pain

By Dr. Ahmed Hafez

Overview Abdominal pain is a very common presenting symptom. Abdominal pain is a very common presenting complaint. It can be difficult to comprehend due to the shear volume of conditions that can present with this symptom. The job of any junior doctor, physician associate or advanced nurse practitioner is to take a good history, performance a solid examination and then come up with a synthesised list of possible diagnoses (i.e. the differential diagnosis). Two of the most important things to uncover from the history is the ‘timing of onset’ and the ‘location’. This is because these two factors really help

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#Clinical Haematology

Lymphadenopathy

By Dr. Ahmed Hafez

Overview Lymphadenopathy essentially refers to lymph nodes with abnormal consistency or size. Lymphadenopathy is a very broad term that simply refers to the disease of lymph nodes. The term is used to represent a change in size or consistency of a lymph node. The two most common causes of lymphadenopathy are infection and malignancy. Lymphadenopathy may be peripheral or visceral: Peripheral: lymph nodes located in areas close to the skin that can be palpated when enlarged (e.g. neck, axilla, groin) Visceral: lymph nodes located inside the body at deep locations, usually in association with major organs (e.g. mesenteric lymph nodes,

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