William Yaakob, MD

September 16, 2002

A 72-year-old man is brought to the emergency department by his wife. Hecomplains of nausea, vomiting, and severe abdominal pain that makes it difficultfor him to walk. The pain began the previous afternoon and has worsened steadily.The patient denies trauma and recent foreign travel. His history includes an appendectomyperformed many years earlier but is otherwise noncontributory.

September 02, 2002

A 13-year-old boy presents with swelling of the left eyelidsthat started 12 hours earlier; the eyelashes are mattedwith yellow discharge. He does not wear contact lenses oreyeglasses and denies ocular trauma or foreign bodies. Hehas been nauseated and has vomited once; his motherattributes these symptoms to an antibiotic that was prescribed5 days earlier for a sinus infection. Medical historyis noncontributory; there is no family history of ocularproblems.

August 01, 2002

About 1 month ago, a 58-year-old man experienced malaiseand fatigue accompanied by mild diffuse swelling in his neck.After 3 days, the malaise and fatigue began to abate. They resolvedafter a week; however, minimal swelling on the left sideof the neck remains. The patient has no other symptoms.