Weakness in an 88-Year-old Man

Estimated time to complete this activity is 1 hour. CME INFORMATION A n 88-year-old African American man without any significant past medical history presented for evaluation after being “found down” at home. A neighbor alerted Emergency Medical Services after the patient failed to answer his phone for several days. Apparently the patient had passed out while fixing a window. He was unsure how long he had been down, but had been too weak to rise from the floor. In addition, he believed that “laser beams” had depleted his strength. The patient denied any significant surgical history. He denied any use of alcohol, tobacco, or intravenous drugs. He lived alone. He was a former driver for the local bank and had been retired for over 25 years. He had no primary care physician. In fact, he had not been to a doctor for nearly 50 years. On initial physical exam, he was noted to be alert and oriented to year, month, place, and person. He was in no apparent distress. His vital signs included a blood presWeakness in an 88-Year-old Man