Not As Innocent As We Had Thought

The global virome: not as big as we thought?

Viruses likely infect all organisms, serving to unknown extent as genetic vectors in complex networks of organisms. Environmental virologists have revealed that these abundant nanoscale entities are global players with critical roles in every ecosystem investigated. Curiously, novel genes dominate viral genomes and metagenomes, which has led to the suggestion that viruses represent the largest ...

Hereditary thrombocytosis not as innocent as thought? Development into acute leukemia and myelofibrosis.

Paracetamol: not as safe as we thought? A systematic literature review of observational studies.

OBJECTIVES We conducted a systematic literature review to assess the adverse event (AE) profile of paracetamol. METHODS We searched Medline and Embase from database inception to 1 May 2013. We screened for observational studies in English, which reported mortality, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal (GI) or renal AEs in the general adult population at standard analgesic doses of paracetamol. St...

Etomidate, sepsis, and adrenal function: not as bad as we thought?

The choice of induction agent for endotracheal intubation can have significant downstream effects, especially in critically ill patients. In a retrospective study, Ray and McKeown found that the choice of induction agent had no significant effect on use of vasoactive medications, corticosteroids, or mortality. Given the heated debate regarding corticosteroids in septic shock and the role that e...

Sickle cell trait: not as benign as once thought

We describe a case of renal papillary necrosis in a middle-aged female with sickle cell trait who presented with gross hematuria. We wish to highlight this case for several reasons. Sickle cell trait is often viewed as a benign condition despite the fact that it is associated with significant morbidity such as renal papillary necrosis and renal medullary carcinoma. Appropriate evaluation needs ...