Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Comparative Study
Adverse cardiac events in emergency department patients with chest pain six months after a negative inpatient evaluation for acute coronary syndrome.
To evaluate the impact of the diagnostic test setting-inpatient versus outpatient-on adverse cardiac events (ACEs) after six months in emergency department (ED) patients with chest pain who were admitted to the hospital and subsequently had a negative evaluation for acute coronary syndrome (ACS). ⋯ Long-term cardiac morbidity of patients after a negative ACS evaluation may be higher than previously thought. Risk of ACE is significantly higher in subjects scheduled for outpatient diagnostic tests. Inpatient diagnostic testing is justified for subjects at risk for poor compliance.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
A randomized controlled trial of mist in the acute treatment of moderate croup.
To determine whether the use of mist improves clinical symptoms in children presenting to the emergency department (ED) with moderate croup. ⋯ Mist therapy is not effective in improving clinical symptoms in children presenting to the ED with moderate croup.
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Sudden cardiac arrest (CA) claims approximately 1,200 lives daily in the United States. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation attempts have so far achieved suboptimal results, and even when restoration of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) is achieved, about 30% of survivors suffer permanent brain damage. This illustrates the need for an improved basic scientific understanding of the pathophysiology of global cerebral injury caused by whole-body ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury following CA. ⋯ The mechanisms underlying brain edema formation elicited by CA are unclear. New scientific findings of the roles of blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) of a family of proteases, aquaporin 4 (AQP4) of a family of membrane water-channel proteins, and the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in the mechanisms underlying CA-elicited brain edema were reviewed. By defining the roles of BBB permeability, MMPs, AQP4, and NMDA receptors in CA-induced brain edema formation, effective new therapeutic strategies to extend cellular and tissue survival, and preserve neurologic function following CA may be feasible.
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Ethnic and racial differences in the provision of emergency department (ED) analgesia for long-bone fractures have recently been reported in two large cities. The authors sought to determine, in a third city, whether nonwhite patients with long-bone fractures were less likely to receive analgesics than white patients with similar injuries. ⋯ In contrast to two recently reported studies, at this urban trauma center and teaching hospital ED, there was no difference in the administration of analgesics to white and nonwhite patients with long-bone fractures.
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New diagnostic and treatment options for emergency department (ED) patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) may facilitate the ED discharge of some patients. However, some patients require admission to exclude concurrent acute coronary syndrome (ACS) as the precipitant of CHF. The objective of this study was to identify the incidence, clinical characteristics, and hospital course of CHF patients who present to the ED with and without concurrent ACS. ⋯ The incidence of ACS in ED CHF patients with chest pain was 32%. Patients with CHF complicated by ACS had more prolonged hospital stays, required higher levels of care, and had a higher incidence of death than those patients without ACS. Strategies tailored to early identification and management of these patients would be desirable.