The American journal of emergency medicine
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The objective of this study is to determine whether creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) index (CK-MBi) is useful in the evaluation of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in patients with indeterminate troponin (Tn) in the emergency department (ED). ⋯ Initial results identify rare cases of AMI where CK-MBi is positive in the setting of indeterminate Tn. However, most patients with indeterminate Tn and positive CK-MBi were not judged to be having AMI. In most cases, CK-MBi is not positive with indeterminate Tn and when positive more commonly confuses the picture. This suggests CK-MBi could be eliminated in patients with indeterminate Tns.
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A person consists of a variety of immune reactions as a result of bee stings, depending on his/her immunologic structure. A 49-year-old male patient was brought to the emergency department because of generalized tonic clonic seizure and loss of consciousness after an hour of wild bee bite from the anterior abdomen in a rural area. After cardiopulmonary resuscitation, he was admitted to intensive care unit. ⋯ The patient was diagnosed as SAH due to exposure to bee stings. The patient was treated for a month in an intensive care unit and discharged in a vegetative state. We present and discuss the case that had epileptic seizures and SAH after a bee bite, with the review of the literature.
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The aim was to investigate the circadian and weekly variation in Chinese young patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). ⋯ There was a significant circadian variation with a peak from 00:01 to 06:00 in Chinese young patients with AMI. However, there was no significant weekly variation in these patients. The circadian periodicity may create new possibilities for disease prevention and medication prescription.
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Computed tomography (CT) has been used in diagnosing acute appendicitis since late 1990s. Appropriate use of CT has not been studied prospectively in patients with suspected acute appendicitis and relative low Alvarado score. ⋯ Computed tomography scan is necessary for patients with relatively low Alvarado score when leukocytosis is noted. In female patients without leukocytosis, further large-scale prospective studies are necessary to change the current diagnostic strategy.
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Differences in disposition between emergency physicians (EPs) have been studied in select patient populations but not in general emergency department (ED) patients. After determining whether a difference existed in admit/discharge decision making of EPs for general ED patients, we focus our study in examining the influence of EP seniority on the decision to discharge ED patients. ⋯ EPs vary in their admit/discharge decision making for general ED patients. More importantly, the most senior EPs were found to have the lowest discharge rates compared with their junior colleagues.