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In this Journal feature, information about a real patient is presented in stages (boldface type) to an expert clinician, who responds to the information, sharing his or her reasoning with the reader (regular type). The authors' commentary follows.
A 41-year-old woman was brought by her husband to the emergency department with a history of 72 hours of epigastric pain, nausea, repeated vomiting, and altered mental status. Her blood calcium was found to be 18.9 mg per deciliter (4.7 mmol per liter).
Hypercalcemia of this degree is a medical emergency. The patient with severe hypercalcemia is invariably dehydrated, and the first
Commentary
Source Information
From the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY.
Address reprint requests to Dr. Barzel at the Montefiore Medical Group, 3400 Bainbridge Ave., Bronx, NY 10467, or at ubarzel@montefiore.org.
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