MEDizzy - A 67-year-old male presents to your clinic to establish

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Cardiology

A 67-year-old male presents to your clinic to establish primary care; he is asymptomatic. He has a history of hypertension for which he takes hydrochlorothiazide. His father had a myocardial infarction at age 62. The patient smoked until 5 years ago, but has been abstinent from tobacco since then. His blood pressure in the office today is 132/78. Aside from being overweight, the remainder of the physical examination is unremarkable. Which of the following preventive health interventions would be most appropriately offered to him today?

ExplanationThe US Preventive Services Task Force recommends that all males between the ages of 65 and 75 with any history of smoking undergo one-time screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). There is no evidence that screening carotid ultrasonography (ie, in the patient without cerebrovascular symptoms or carotid bruits) or treadmill testing are beneficial to the patient. Although lipoprotein(a) and homocysteine levels have some predictive value in assessing CAD risk, their measurement is not recommended by the USPS Task Force.