The American journal of medicine
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A newly approved, high-sensitivity troponin T (hsTnT) assay may offer opportunities to more rapidly assess for acute coronary syndrome and identify lower thresholds of myocardial injury. As more emergency departments begin to use the hsTnT assay, anticipating barriers to hsTnT implementation success are critical to realizing potential benefits in rapid, accurate patient assessment. ⋯ Interviews demonstrated that implementation of hsTnT was associated with several implementation barriers from the perspective of emergency department clinicians. Future implementation efforts should focus on diverse and sustained staff educational efforts, models that address challenges with care handoffs between emergency department clinicians and inpatient clinicians, and operational teams that include inpatient clinicians to facilitate buy-in.
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It is important to study the trends of e-cigarette use among various subgroups to understand which populations may be more susceptible to increased use and, therefore, are at risk for potential long-term health effects. ⋯ In a nationally representative sample, we found important trends in e-cigarette use in a relatively short time frame. A significantly increasing prevalence of e-cigarette use was noted among middle-age adults, women, and former smokers. Our study provides important information about e-cigarette trends that can be used by clinicians when counselling patients and by regulatory agencies to develop public policies.
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Electrocardiography (ECG) is poorly sensitive, but highly specific for the diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy. However, previous studies documenting this were small and lacked patient diversity. Furthermore, little is known about the impact of patient characteristics on the sensitivity and specificity of ECG for left ventricular hypertrophy. To address this issue, the present study was conducted to ascertain the sensitivity and specificity of ECG for left ventricular hypertrophy in a large, diverse patient population. ⋯ This is the first study to confirm the sensitivity and specificity of ECG for left ventricular hypertrophy in a large, diverse patient population with significant minority representation. Furthermore, although these statistical measures are influenced by patient characteristics, such differences are likely not clinically significant.