JAMA Clinical Reviews

Minor head trauma usually does not cause significant brain injury. To be safe, clinicians often obtain head CT scans to ensure no major injury is present. For minor head trauma (Glascow coma scale 13-15), the risk to benefit ratio for head CT is usually not in favor of getting CT scans. When the Canadian head CT rule or New Orleans Criteria are negative, there is a very small risk for missing a significant brain injury. Joshua Easter, MD from the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Virginia who authored a JAMA Rational Clinical Examination article on this topic is interviewed as is Frederick Rivara, from the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Washington who wrote an accompanying editorial. Michelle Mello, a Law Professor at Stanford, discusses the medical liability associated with not obtaining neuroimaging for minor head trauma.

Edward H. Livingston, MD discusses Graves disease with David Cooper, MD, author of Management of Graves Disease: A Review

Edward H. Livingston MD, explores the topic of prostate cancer screening in author interviews with: Dan Merenstein about losing a malpractice case despite following evidence-based medicine guidelines (PSA Screening — I Finally Won!). Otis Brawley about Prostate Cancer Incidence and PSA Testing Patterns in Relation to USPSTF Screening Recommendations. David F. Penson about The Pendulum of Prostate Cancer Screening. Victor M. Montori about The Connection Between Evidence-Based Medicine and Shared Decision Making.

ACS is a common and potentially lethal problem. However, only about 10% of patients who present to an emergency department with chest pain actually have ACS. In this JAMA Clinical Reviews podcast, we discuss which signs, symptoms and tests used to make the diagnosis of ACS are reliable. Edward H. Livingston MD, speaks with Alexander Fanaroff, MD, author of Does This Patient With Chest Pain Have Acute Coronary Syndrome? The Rational Clinical Examination Systematic Review as well as a patient who was diagnosed with myocardial infarction.

Interview with David Simel, MD, author of Does This Patient With Chest Pain Have Acute Coronary Syndrome? The Rational Clinical Examination Systematic Review

Interview with Ahmedin Jemal, DVM, PhD, author of Temporal Trends in Mortality in the United States, 1969-2013, and J. Michael McGinnis, MD, MPP, author of Mortality Trends and Signs of Health Progress. Also in this episode is a conversation with Christopher J.L. Murray, MD, DPhil, a Professor of Global Health at the University of Washington and Institute Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. CME for this activity is available here.

Interview with Luke Rudmik, MD, MSc, author of Medical Therapies for Adult Chronic Sinusitis: A Systematic Review. This systematic review summarizes the evidence-based medical treatment of adult chronic sinusitis and proposes a treatment algorithm.

Edward H. Livingston, MD, interviews a war veteran and discusses PTSD with Maria Steenkamp, PhD, author of Psychotherapy for Military-Related PTSD, and Michele Spoont, PhD, author of Rational Clinical Exam: Does This Patient Have Posttraumatic Stress Disorder? The article by Dr Steenkamp reports that many military personnel and veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder achieve clinically meaningful improvement with use of the first-line trauma-focused interventions cognitive processing therapy and prolonged exposure.
 The Rational Clinical Examination Systematic Review by Dr Spoont examines the utility of self-report screening instruments for posttraumatic stress disorder among primary care and high-risk populations.

Edward H. Livingston, MD discusses atrial fibrillation with Eric N. Prystowsky, MD, author of Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation, and talks about new technologies to facilitate screening for atrial fibrillation with Leslie Saxon, MD.

Interview with Kevin P. Hill, MD, MHS, author of Medical Marijuana for Treatment of Chronic Pain and Other Medical and Psychiatric Problems: A Clinical Review, and Deepak Cyril D'Souza, MBBS, MD, author of Medical Marijuana: Is the Cart Before the Horse?