The American journal of emergency medicine
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Meningitis is a potentially life threatening medical emergency. Psychotic behavior may be a presenting feature in patients with meningitis. We aimed to determine the value of various clinical and laboratory features at ruling-out meningitis in the patient presenting with a first-episode of psychotic behavior. ⋯ The absence of these six parameters; alone or in various combinations, was unable to rule-out meningitis in all patients presenting to our ED with a first-episode of psychotic behavior. When the underlying etiology of psychotic behavior is not obvious, the clinician should adopt a low threshold to perform a lumbar puncture.
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The Emergency Department (ED) is an important venue for the care of patients with cancer. We sought to describe the national characteristics of ED visits by patients with cancer in the United States. ⋯ Patients with cancer comprise nearly 4 million ED visits annually. The findings highlight the important role of the ED in cancer care and need for addressing acute care conditions in patients with cancer.
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To determine whether hyperglycemic patients can be successfully managed in the Emergency Department Observation Unit (EDOU), as determined by the frequency of inpatient admission following their EDOU stay. ⋯ Results suggest hyperglycemic patients selected by ED physicians can be managed in the EDOU setting. Nearly all patients managed in the EDOU for hyperglycemia had an HbA1c≥9.0%, suggesting unrecognized or poorly controlled chronic diabetes as the basis for hyperglycemia.