The American journal of emergency medicine
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Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is characterized by increased pulmonary vascular resistance and pulmonary arterial pressure and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. ⋯ An understanding of the pathophysiology of PH and available emergency treatments can assist emergency clinicians in reducing the immediate morbidity and mortality associated with this disease. Restarting maintenance PH medications and proper selection of vasopressors and inotropes will benefit decompensating patients with PH.
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The aim of this study is to compare a point-of-care (POC) analysis, Enterprise POC (epoc), using the capillary blood obtained from skin puncture with conventional laboratory tests using arterial and venous blood in hypotensive patients. ⋯ Most parameters, except pO2, measured by the epoc system using the capillary blood in hypotensive patients were equivalent to or correlated with those measured by the reference analyzers.
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Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is defined as Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) of 14 or 15. Despite good outcomes, patients are commonly transferred to trauma centers for observation and/or neurosurgical consultation. The aim of this study is to assess the value of redefining mTBI with novel radiographic criteria to determine the appropriateness of interhospital transfer for neurosurgical evaluation. ⋯ Defining mTBI with the described novel criteria clearly identifies patients who can be safely managed without transfer for neurosurgical consultation. These unnecessary transfers represent a substantial financial and resource burden to the trauma system and inconvenience to patients.
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Cardiac arrest in pregnancy is high acuity, low occurrence event. It involves the coordination of multiple teams to take care of ultimately two patients. This is further compounded by physiology that is frequently unfamiliar to the providers taking care of the patient. ⋯ This case report will detail sudden onset eclampsia in a patient whose condition deteriorated rapidly into cardiac arrest. It will delve into the complexities of managing this complex disease process and how the multi-disciplinary team quickly integrated to manage both the mother and the baby. Why should the emergency physician be aware of this?: Cardiac arrest in pregnancy is an incredibly difficult situation due to both the physiological differences in the pregnant woman and the emotional factors on the treating providers (1). Due to its rarity, the pregnant cardiac arrest situation should be frequently reviewed to ensure appropriate care when the time arrives. The per-mortem c-section for a woman in cardiac arrest is a critical resuscitation technique that must be understood by providers who take care of critically ill patients ranging from emergency medicine to obstetrics and gynecology (Ob/Gyn) clinicians.
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Electrical cardioversion (ECV) is the recommended treatment for atrial fibrillation (AFib) in critically ill patients, despite lacking data showing hemodynamic benefits of restoring sinus rhythm in this setting. The aim of this study was to assess the hemodynamic effect of successful ECV in a cohort of hemodynamically unstable critically ill patients. ⋯ ECV is associated with a large proportion of hemodynamic non-responders and a numerically modest, non-significant hemodynamic improvement in critically ill patients with new-onset AFib.