Scientific writing and publication have evolved far beyond traditional research articles and case reports, expanding into diverse formats such as reviews, commentaries, letters, technical notes, clinical images, and multimedia.

Examines the legal framework governing parental consent for medical treatment of minors in the Philippines, with emphasis on the emergence and application of the mature minor doctrine under the Philippine HIV and AIDS Policy Act of 2018, and highlights the need for healthcare practitioners to prioritize the best interests of the child when determining capacity for consent.

Chronic venous disease is an under-recognized condition which may result in significant morbidities with considerable costs. There is scarce data on chronic venous disease in the Philippines. The National Nutrition and Health Survey II was conducted to determine the national prevalence of different risk factors and clinical conditions. The primary objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of chronic venous disease in adults aged 20 years and older using the Southern Tagalog Venous Insufficiency Questionnaire (STVIQ).

The Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock in 2016 promoted the new definition and prognostication scheme among patients with sepsis using the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scoring system. This study determined the discriminative power of the second-day SOFA scoring system in predicting 30-day hospital mortality among adult Filipino patients who presented with sepsis in a tertiary government hospital in the urban setting in the Philippines.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is increasingly being diagnosed in our country. This study aims to describe the clinical features, management strategies and outcome of patients with SLE during a ten-year period.

Several studies have shown that diabetes mellitus increases the risk of having adverse events after CABG. This study was conducted to compare outcome of diabetic and non-diabetic patients after CABG and to test if diabetes mellitus is the strongest predictor of adverse outcomes.

Myocarditis is a rare but serious complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Existing literature on adult Filipino SLE patients with myocarditis is limited. This study aims to determine clinical characteristics and outcomes of myocarditis in Filipino patients with lupus.

The American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) revised the thresholds for the definition and treatment of hypertension that was recommended by the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC 7) while the 2018 European Society of Cardiology/European Society of Hypertension (ESC/ESH) Guidelines for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Management of High Blood Pressure retained their previous classification but revised the recommendations for diagnosis and treatment. The impact of these changes in our setting is uncertain. This study aims to compare the prevalence of hypertension using the three proposed criteria in a primary preventive setting.

Dermatomyositis is an autoimmune inflammatory process typically presenting with symmetric proximal muscle weakness preceded by skin lesions. We report a case of dermatomyositis initially presenting with pleural effusion before developing rashes and proximal muscle weakness.

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas (NHLs) are a varied group of malignancy originating in the lymphatic system. As a subset of lymphomas, primary spinal epidural lymphomas are diagnosed when there are no other recognizable sites of lymphomas at the time of diagnosis. It mimics other spinal diseases making the diagnosis difficult to establish as well as in obtaining tissue diagnosis.  It mimics other spinal diseases making the diagnosis difficult to establish as well as in obtaining tissue diagnosis. We present an atypical case of a 45-year-old female who presented initially with back pain then eventual loss of sensory and motor function of the lower extremities, further work up showed primary spinal epidural NHL. 

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) presenting as non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) in a very young Filipina female with a maternal history of premature coronary artery disease and no comorbidities is a rare occurrence and seldom suspected. An integral approach using clinical presentation, information derived from ECG, cardiac troponin and risk assessment criteria should be used in order to arrive at the proper diagnosis and management. The other challenges encountered were angioedema secondary to clopidogrel hypersensitivity and financial constraints. These factors should be taken into consideration when deciding the short and long-term treatment especially after percutaneous coronary intervention and stenting.

Lung cancer remains a top cause of new cases and deaths from malignancies globally and locally. The development of targeted therapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), particularly adenocarcinoma, promises to improve survival significantly among suitable patients as compared to chemotherapy. About 50% of NSCLC patients have some driver mutations that can be treated by targeted therapy.