Don’t ignore the splinter haemorrhage . . . and other stories

Diagnostic value of splinter haemorrhagesOnce considered a classic sign of infective endocarditis, splinter haemorrhages no longer feature among current criteria for diagnosis. A retrospective study of more than 1000 patients reassessed their diagnostic value using the Duke criteria as a gold standard. It turns out that splinter haemorrhages have poor sensitivity but high specificity. In other words, if present, they should not be ignored (Heart doi:10.1136/heartjnl-2022-321052).Heating up the viral soupIs it simply coincidence that the year 2020, which saw the emergence and global spread of SARS-CoV-2, was the warmest ever recorded in the northern hemisphere? Probably not, according to a review that explores how climate change increases the risk of cross-species viral transmission. Simulations suggest that rising global temperatures and changes in land use will drive closer encounters between mammalian species and increase the likelihood that new viral pathogens will emerge (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01474-9).The amygdala and depressionOveractivity in the amygdala, a part…
Read Original Article: Don’t ignore the splinter haemorrhage . . . and other stories »