The American journal of emergency medicine
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Letter Case Reports
Late administration of pralidoxime in organophosphate (fenitrothion) poisoning.
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Echocardiography has been used to diagnose acute right-sided dysfunction arising from pulmonary embolism (PE). Rarely, it can visualize the embolic material in the right heart cavities. We report a case of acute PE that was seen in the right ventricle and right pulmonary artery using bedside transthoracic echocardiography in the ED. ⋯ Serial echocardiographs confirmed the response to therapy and the dissolution of thrombi. In this report, echocardiographic findings of acute PE and indications of thrombolytics in PE are also reviewed from the literature. Based on available evidence, those patients who present with cardiogenic shock from PE, and young patients with acute PE leading to right ventricular dysfunction benefit the most from early thrombolytic therapy.
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The purpose of this study was to investigate the initial clinical features and subsequent outcomes in patients with adult leukemia with typhlitis or neutropenic enterocolitis. A retrospective review of 10 episodes of neutropenic enterocolitis in nine patients (age range, 21-71 years) with acute leukemia from March 1, 1990, through February 28, 2002, was conducted. In clinical presentations, fever appears in all patients, followed by abdominal pain or tenderness (90%) and diarrhea (60%), respectively. ⋯ Laparotomy with bowel resection was performed on two patients with bowel necrosis and severe peritonitis. Of all nine cases, six were fatal as a result of sepsis, a common complication of neutropenic enterocolitis. As the incidence of neutropenic enterocolitis increases in patients with acute leukemia, EPs should be alert and make an early diagnosis of this rapidly deteriorated and life-threatening disease.
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The purpose of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of combined computed tomography venography and pulmonary angiography (CTVPA) in the diagnosis of venous thromboembolic (VTE) disease in the emergency department (ED). CTVPA images and clinical data of 73 nonselected patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) and/or deep venous thrombosis (DVT) were retrospectively assessed. CTVPA correctly identified 33 of 34 patients with VTE disease, including 7 patients with PE alone, 11 patients with DVT alone, and 16 patients with both PE and DVT. ⋯ CTVPA showed high accuracy in the diagnosis of both PE and DVT, in comparison with lower extremity venous sonography and ventilation-perfusion scintigraphy. In 26 (66%) of the 39 patients without of evidence VTE, CTVPA provided important ancillary information that suggests additional or alternative diagnoses. CTVPA is therefore an appropriate single diagnostic tool for evaluation VTE disease in the ED.