Editor's Note, Volume 8 Issue 2

D’Arcy Little, MD, CCFP, FRCPC Medical Director, JCCC and HealthPlexus.NET

I am pleased to introduce the latest issue of the Journal of Current Clinical Care.


Drs. Raphaële Charest-Morin and Nicolas Dea present Spinal Lesions: Benign or Malignant? When should you worry? General practitioners are occasionally confronted with unknown lesions of the spine. Recognition of imaging characteristics and anatomic details from the different imaging modalities generally provides sufficient information to generate an appropriate differential diagnosis. Importantly, first line clinicians should recognize worrisome imaging characteristics and initiate timely referral when indicated. On the other hand, lesions expressing benign features should also be identified to avoid anxiety for the patient and overuse of diagnostic imaging studies. In a public health care system, judicious utilization of imaging is of paramount importance. This article will review an approach to unknown bony lesions of the spine.

In his article, Insufficiency Fractures of the Femur and Sacrum, Dr. M.S. Alam, reviews the impact of non-traumatic fractures. An insufficiency fracture is a subtype of stress fracture, which occurs in abnormally weakened bone. Stress fractures can be classified as: a) fatigue fractures, b) pathological fractures, c) stress fractures (through normal bone) and d) insufficiency fractures. It is important to make the correct diagnosis in order to avoid complications.

Dr. Michael Gordon, from the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto offers an ethical discussion on Abandoning Treatment Due to Age Alone. When caring for older adults with comorbidities, especially those at the extreme upper limits of life, it may be easier for providers to lessen the intensity of their curiosity and medical investigation. For some older individuals' chronic conditions, the odds of a positive outcome may seem too distant or the patient's discomfort may be too great—or, in many jurisdictions, the financial burden—may act as a barrier to the pursuit of answers.

I hope you enjoy this edition. Please consider commenting or submitting an article of your own.