The specificity of the internal medicine department concerns systemic diseases , ie diseases that can affect several organs simultaneously. These diseases can be inflammatory in nature, often autoimmune (by antibodies directed against certain organs) . Examples include systemic lupus, Gougerot-Sjögren syndrome, scleroderma, polymyositis, sarcoidosis, mastocytosis, histiocytosis, vasculitis ( such as Horton's disease, Wegener's disease, etc.) .

These are most often chronic diseases requiring regular follow-up in the department, in collaboration with the attending physician and the organ specialist(s) (for example the cardiologist, pulmonologist, dermatologist, ophthalmologist, etc. according to the affected organs) . The service summarizes these often complex files and coordinates care.

The service is labeled “Competence Center for Rare Diseases and Systemic and Autoimmune Diseases, Immunodeficiency and Hereditary Angioedema” : it works in close collaboration with the various national reference centers, to offer the patient the best care, adapted to the most up-to-date knowledge.

At the request of the attending physician or specialist, the department receives for consultation and/or hospitalization whose disease has not yet been identified despite various investigations. The biological or imaging assessments, the responses to the treatments administered, the data from the clinical examination are then all pieces of a puzzle that must be ordered to make a diagnosis. As such, the service provides assessments of persistent fever, weight loss, phlebitis or recurrent pulmonary embolism .

A significant part of the department's activity concerns patients admitted to medical emergencies for reasons as diverse as malaise, anemia, infection, phlebitis, stroke, cancer disease... Internal Medicine takes care of these patients as a whole, especially when several associated pathologies make things complex.

The conditions for good care of these patients are also taught to the students.

Note:
to find out more about the specialty of internal medicine, visit the site: www.snfmi.org

The clinical activity of the “Internal Medicine and Clinical Immunology Department” is oriented on 2 main axes: consultation and hospitalization

Hospitalization in the department takes place according to four methods:

• by direct entry at the request of the attending physician after agreement of the medical team,
• after prior consultation with a department doctor,
• after admission to the Department of Reception and Emergency Treatment (DATU) of the CHU,
• by transfer from another service or another establishment.

This hospitalization is done in the traditional way. The HPDD can meet the needs for additional exploration in various pathological situations. It provides useful time for establishing a diagnosis and takes into account the concern for controlling health expenditure.

Day Hospitalization ( HDJ ) mainly allows the periodic administration of various intravenous treatments such as immunosuppressants, immunoglobulins, transfusions and infusions of coagulation factors.

During their visits, doctors question and examine patients. They meet, by appointment, the family of the patient who requests them.

Consultation is the 2 ^nd major axis of the service: 4 full-time doctors provide consultations throughout the week. These consultations are open to any patient, preferably referred by their attending physician or another specialist.

In addition to hospitalization and consultations, the service provides a telephone service 6 days a week for all doctors in the Lower Normandy region.