Abstract
This quarter’s ‘Christmas Issue’ of the SMJ sees the return of Zegers and Zegers with another ‘one-allowed’ tongue-in-cheek presentation. Following on from their eye-catching (in The Netherlands at least) treatise on the likely ophthalmological consequences if Laurel and Hardy were ‘real people’, 1 they now extol their views on the potential downside of James Bond’s bawdy behaviour.
Before that, an Edinburgh hospital’s project checks to see if applauding excellence really is better than Datix-inspired analysis of mistakes (with the catchy title of ‘Yatix’!), while a clutch of other ‘Eastern’ hospitals follow on from a recent case report in this journal 2 with a small survey of how diligently we check for possible pregnancy before arranging tests, or indeed, operations – collating some of their own general surgery data from a multicentre study with their simultaneous results from other surgical specialties.
The case reports start and finish with a Primum Non Nocere theme. Firstly, pneumococcal vaccine is found to be arguably contraindicated in just the sort of disease where you might consider it a good idea, and finally nicorandil is reported to have a side-effect very far removed from what one might normally consider its site of action.
Sandwiched between these come a possible new use for N-acetyl cysteine in a haematological condition, plus two ‘think twice’ cautionary tales. Actinomycosis may mimic B-cell lymphoma, but does it also happen the other way around? And a reminder that chasing one rare association with an unusual infection should not preclude chasing other even-rarer possibilities.
As for this season’s Editorial?
No politics, no rants, no raves.
None.
It’s Christmas.
Sort-of.