Heart & lung : the journal of critical care
-
Congestive heart failure is a common cardiac disorder associated with a high mortality. There are a limited number of prognostic scales predicting in-hospital outcomes after an acute episode of congestive heart failure. ⋯ The PEPS is a simple tool that can be easily calculated using common clinical diagnostic tests (electrocardiogram, blood pressure, heart rate, and white cell count) to determine in-hospital mortality risk in patients with an acute episode of cardiogenic pulmonary edema.
-
The objective was to study patients' interpretations, thoughts, and actions after symptom onset in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in total and in relation to gender, age, history of coronary artery disease, type of syndrome, and residential area and its influence on prehospital delay. ⋯ Interpreting symptoms as cardiac in origin and approaching someone after symptom onset were major reasons for a shorter prehospital delay in ACS.
-
A 24-year-old man developed systolic hypertension as a result of renal contusion, perinephric fluid collection, and renal compression (Page kidney) after blunt renal trauma. The patient was treated with an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor for 30 days, after which his blood pressure normalized and the medications were discontinued. ⋯ Transient hypertension may develop in patients after blunt renal injury as a result of Page phenomenon. Appropriate medical therapy is warranted and may be successful because spontaneous resolution may be delayed or not occur at all.
-
There are several species of coagulase-negative Staphylococci (CoNS) that are part of the normal skin flora and are relatively noninvasive/low virulence organisms. CoNS are important pathogens in patients with prosthetic devices and are the most common pathogen associated with prosthetic valve endocarditis. ⋯ There has been only one reported case of non-mitral valve IE due to CoNS in a patient with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. To the best of our knowledge, we report the first case of Staphylococcal hominis mitral valve endocarditis in a patient with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy.