The American journal of emergency medicine
-
The Publisher regrets that this article is an accidental duplication of an article that has already been published, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2018.03.017. The duplicate article has therefore been withdrawn. The full Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal can be found at https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal.
-
Observational Study
The relationship between emergency department volume and patient complexity.
Forecasting emergency department (ED) visits is a well-studied topic. The importance of understanding the complexity of patients along with the days and times of varying patient volumes is critical for planning medical and ancillary staffing. Though multiple studies stratify their results based on severity of disease, severity was determined by triage status. The goal of this study was to utilize a novel method to evaluate the correlation between daily emergency department patient complexity, based on Current Procedure Terminology (CPT) code, and day of the week. ⋯ There was no correlation between daily ED patient complexity based on CPT code and day of the week or daily ED patient acuity and legal holiday. In light of these data, emergency department staffing and resource allocation patterns may need to be revisited.
-
Case Reports
Acute myocardial infarction due to simultaneous spasm of 3 coronary arteries that worsened over time.
Coronary artery spasm (CAS) rarely worsens from single-vessel to simultaneous multivessel CAS naturally, and simultaneous multivessel CAS leads to serious conditions such as cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA). A 77-year-old Japanese man who took medications for CAS was transferred to our hospital due to persistent chest pain. On arrival, his vital signs were stable, but his electrocardiogram (ECG) showed ST-segment elevation in leads II, III and aVF. ⋯ CAS worsened from single-vessel to simultaneous 3-vessel spasm, and intracoronary administration of nitrates was effective in relieving CAS, which was documented by the ECG and coronary angiogram. Since CAS can progress over time, nitrates must be administered immediately. When CAS leads to CPA, epinephrine may be ineffective in CPR because of its vasoconstrictive effect on coronary arteries; therefore, PCPS should be initiated, and intracoronary nitrates should be administered.