The American journal of emergency medicine
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One of the less frequent underlying mechanisms of ventricular tachycardia (VT) is triggered activity. Triggered activity refers to an extrasystole due to a premature depolarization that occurs when the amplitude of an early or delayed afterdepolarization brings the cardiac membrane to its threshold potential. Hydrochlorothiazide and hydroxyzine can prolong repolarization and QT interval and are associated with early afterdepolarizations. ⋯ We present a case of triggered OT tachycardia for which intravenous amiodarone through its antiadrenergic effect may have been effective. Infusions of magnesium and a cardioselective, β-receptor antagonist that does not prolong repolarization may have been more appropriate given the concurrent, acquired prolonged QT syndrome. After initial stabilization, considering the underlying VT mechanism may prompt the clinician to select the most appropriate, further treatment.
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Acute appendicitis is one of the most common reasons for abdominal surgery. Stump appendicitis, one of the rare complications of appendicitis surgery, is an inflammation that develops in the remaining part of the appendix following surgery and occurs at a rate of 1/50.000 in cases with appendectomy. ⋯ Complications such as perforation and peritonitis can develop if an early diagnosis cannot be made. In this article, we present the first case of recurrent stump appendicitis reported in the literature as far as we are aware.
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Case Reports
A neonate with metabolic acidosis: A case report of intentional ethylene glycol poisoning.
We present a rare case of the intentional poisoning of a neonate. An 8-day old child presented to an academic pediatric emergency department (ED) with respiratory distress and decreased intake. In the ED the patient was stabilized, and workup uncovered an anion gap metabolic acidosis. ⋯ Calcium oxalate crystals were later found in the urinalysis, raising concern for ethylene glycol poisoning. The patient's father admitted to mixing antifreeze with the child's formula. The workup of an ill or distressed neonate should be methodical, ruling out sepsis, inborn errors of metabolism, cardiac disease, trauma, and less common etiologies such as intestinal catastrophes, renal or hepatic disease, neurologic disease, drug withdrawal, non-accidental trauma, formula mixing errors, and poisoning.