DocTrivia
Wednesday, 4 November
Fact of the day
Surgery
In 541 navigation bronchoscopies, sensitivity for malignancy was 44% overall but just 23.3% in the smallest lung nodules, versus 50% in larger ones.
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Cardiology Filtering the blood to make thyroid surgery safe in amiodarone thyrotoxicosis
When drugs failed to control amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis and arrhythmias persisted, clinicians used plasma exchange to prepare a patient for thyroid removal.
BMJ case reports, 2026
Neurology Violent myoclonus after cardiac arrest, yet the brain imaging looked unremarkable
A man in his 20s had severe, nonstop myoclonic jerks after two cardiac arrests, but scans and EEG did not show the brain damage usually expected.
BMJ case reports, 2026
Pediatrics Platinum chemotherapy gives children's tissues an adult-level mutation load
Duplex sequencing shows platinum drugs raise mutation burdens in children's normal tissues to adult levels, and the liver carries a signature seen in no other tissue.
Science (New York, N.Y.), 2026
Surgery Healed tuberculosis left an adolescent with ascites that kept coming back
A teenager's chylous ascites persisted despite TB treatment, until lymphatic imaging revealed a blocked thoracic duct pathway and glue embolisation stopped the leak.
BMJ case reports, 2026
Dermatology Atopic dermatitis carried nearly fourfold higher psoriasis risk in a huge cohort
In about 300,000 matched pairs, atopic dermatitis was linked to a 3.8-fold higher risk of later psoriasis, yet biologics were linked to lower risk than conventional immunosuppressants.
Frontiers in immunology, 2026
Dentistry Gum disease pathogens may fuel airway inflammation in COPD
A multi-method study links periodontal disease to COPD, from survey data to airway cells and rats, but the genetic evidence was only suggestive.
Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology, 2026
History of medicine Surgical gloves were first made to protect a nurse's hands, not patients
In 1889, surgeon William Halsted asked Goodyear to make thin rubber gloves for his scrub nurse, whose hands were inflamed by antiseptics. A year later, he married her.
Lathan SR, Caroline Hampton Halsted: the first to use rubber gloves in the operating room
