Case Study Analysis
An understanding of cells and cell behavior is a critically important component of disease diagnosis and treatment. But some diseases can be complex in nature, with a variety of factors and circumstances impacting their emergence and severity.
Effective disease analysis often requires an understanding that goes beyond isolated cell behavior. Genes, the environments in which cell processes operate, the impact of patient characteristics, and racial and ethnic variables all can have an important impact.
An understanding of the signals and symptoms of alterations in cellular processes is a critical step in the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases. For APRNs, this understanding can also help educate patients and guide them through their treatment plans.
In this Assignment, you examine a case study and analyze the symptoms presented. You identify cell, gene, and/or process elements that may be factors in the diagnosis, and you explain the implications to patient health.
Scenario:
- A 49-year-old patient with rheumatoid arthritis comes into the clinic with a chief complaint of a fever.
- Patient’s current medications include atorvastatin 40 mg at night, methotrexate 10 mg po every Friday morning and prednisone 5 mg po qam.
- He states that he has had a fever up to 101 degrees F for about a week and admits to chills and sweats.
- He says he has had more fatigue than usual and reports some chest pain associated with coughing.
- He admits to having occasional episodes of hemoptysis.
- He works as a grain inspector at a large farm cooperative.
- After extensive work-up, the patient was diagnosed with Invasive aspergillosis.
The Assignment
Develop a 1- to 2-page case study analysis in which you:
- Explain why you think the patient presented the symptoms described.
- Identify the genes that may be associated with the development of the disease.
- Explain the process of immunosuppression and the effect it has on body systems.
- Be sure to support your points with citations and at least three primary references (textbook, peer-reviewed journal articles published in the last 5 years.
- Please note one of the reference must be from the course textbook by McCance, K. L. & Huether, S. E. (2019). Pathophysiology: 8th ed.
Required Readings:
- McCance, K. L. & Huether, S. E. (2019). Pathophysiology: The biologic basis for disease in adults and children (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby/Elsevier.
- Chapter 7: Innate Immunity: Inflammation and Wound Healing
- Chapter 8: Adaptive Immunity (stop at Generation of clonal diversity); Summary Review
- Chapter 9: Alterations in Immunity and Inflammation (stop at Deficiencies in immunity); Summary Review
- Chapter 10: Infection (stop at Infectious parasites and protozoans); (start at HIV); Summary Review
- Chapter 11: Stress and Disease (stop at Stress, illness & coping); Summary Review
- Chapter 12: Cancer Biology (stop at Resistance to destruction); Summary Review
- Chapter 13: Cancer Epidemiology (stop at Environmental-Lifestyle factors); Summary Review
Justiz-Vaillant, A. A., & Zito, P. M. (2019). Immediate hypersensitivity reactionsLinks to an external site.. In StatPearls. Treasure Island, FL: StatPearls Publishing. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK513315/
​Credit Line: Immediate Hypersensitivity Reactions – StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf. (2019, June 18). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK513315/. Used with permission of Stat Pearls.
Note: This article was presented in the Week 1 resources. If you read it previously you are encouraged to review it this week.
