The American journal of emergency medicine
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Case Reports
Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis in children - clinical and MRI decision making in the emergency department.
Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is an uncommon, treatable, primarily pediatric, immune-mediated disease. Diagnosis of ADEM requires two essential elements: typical clinical presentation and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings. The aim of this study was to evaluate how clinical findings in the initial emergency department (ED) presentation influenced the timing of MRI. ⋯ 20% of ADEM patients were not encephalopathic at ED presentation. Polyfocal neurological signs and absence of fever at ED presentation were related to earlier MRI utilization and thus earlier diagnosis and treatment. Familiarity with the ADEM constellation of signs, and a high index of suspicion, may help the ED clinician in early diagnosis and treatment of this rare disease.
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Clinical Trial
Lung and cardiac ultrasound (LuCUS) protocol in diagnosing acute heart failure in patients with acute dyspnea.
To investigate the accuracy of lung and cardiac ultrasound (LuCUS) protocol in diagnosing Acute Heart Failure (AHF) in patients who refer to Emergency Department (ED) with acute dyspnea. ⋯ LuCUS protocol can be used by EPs as a practical tool to differentiate the cardiac and non-cardiac etiologies of acute dyspnea, specifically AHF, as it is more accurate than clinical diagnosis by itself. Hence, it is recommend that while conducting further studies in order to achieve more generalizable results, EPs can employ it alongside their clinical evaluations to have a faster and more accurate diagnosis.
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Trauma is a major cause of death and disability in the United States, and significant disparities exist in access to care, especially in non-urban settings. From 2007 to 2017 New Mexico expanded its trauma system by focusing on building capacity at the hospital level. ⋯ The New Mexico trauma system expansion significantly increased access to trauma care within 1 h for most of New Mexico, but some notable disparities remain. Barriers persist for very rural parts of the state and for its sizable American Indian community.
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Letter Observational Study
Clinician burnout and its association with team based care in the Emergency Department.
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Comparative Study
Pharmacokinetic effects of endotracheal, intraosseous, and intravenous epinephrine in a swine model of traumatic cardiac arrest.
Limited prospective data exist regarding epinephrine's controversial role in managing traumatic cardiac arrest (TCA). This study compared the maximum concentration (Cmax), time to maximum concentration (Tmax), plasma concentration over time, return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), time to ROSC, and odds of ROSC of epinephrine administered by the endotracheal (ETT), intraosseous (IO), and intravenous (IV) routes in a swine TCA model. ⋯ The pharmacokinetics of IV, HIO, and SIO epinephrine were comparable. Endotracheal epinephrine absorption was highly variable and unreliable compared to IV and IO epinephrine. Epinephrine appeared to have a lesser role than volume replacement in resuscitating TCA.