The American journal of emergency medicine
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Comparative Study
Intracranial complications after minor head injury (MHI) in patients taking vitamin K antagonists (VKA) or direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs).
The correlation between chronic direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) intake and the incidence of intracranial complications after minor head injury (MHI) is still not well defined. This study examined the incidence of complications in patients receiving vitamin K antagonists (VKA) or DOACs observed in the emergency department (ED) for MHI. ⋯ DOACs seem to have a more favorable safety profile than VKA in patients affected by MHI. This observation is important in light of the increasing number of elderly patients who are receiving anticoagulant therapy.
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Acute hyperglycemia is a common condition among patients with diabetes who are admitted to the emergency department (ED) for acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Previous findings regarding the association between hyperglycemia at admission and adverse outcomes among patients with diabetes and AIS have been inconsistent. When investigating this association, it is necessary to consider premorbid blood glucose control. ⋯ We found that 1) HbA1c-based adjusted glycemic variables, including the glycemic gap and stress hyperglycemia ratio, were associated with both AIS severity and neurological status at discharge; additionally, 2) HbA1c-based adjusted glycemic variables showed superior discriminative power compared with acute hyperglycemia regarding the development of severe AIS. We conclude that both the glycemic gap and stress hyperglycemia ratio might be useful in assessing the disease severity and prognosis of patients presenting with AIS. Further prospective long-term follow-up studies should be performed to validate these findings.