Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Multicenter Study
The incremental benefit of a shortness-of-breath biomarker panel in emergency department patients with dyspnea.
The objective was to determine the incremental benefit of a shortness-of-breath (SOB) point-of-care biomarker panel on the diagnostic accuracy of emergency department (ED) patients presenting with dyspnea. ⋯ The addition of the SOB panel of markers did not improve the AUC for diagnosing the combined set of clinical conditions. Using the disease-specific SOB biomarkers increased the sensitivity on a disease-by-disease basis; however, specificity was reduced.
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Multicenter Study
Multicenter validation of the Philadelphia EMS admission rule (PEAR) to predict hospital admission in adult patients using out-of-hospital data.
The objective was to validate a previously derived prediction rule for hospital admission using routinely collected out-of-hospital information. ⋯ The ability of this EMS rule to predict the likelihood of hospital admission appears valid in this multicenter cohort. Further studies are needed to measure the impact and feasibility of using this rule to guide decision-making.
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Multicenter Study
Potential impact of adjusting the threshold of the quantitative D-dimer based on pretest probability of acute pulmonary embolism.
The utility of D-dimer testing for suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) can be limited by test specificity. The authors tested if the threshold of the quantitative D-dimer can be varied according to pretest probability (PTP) of PE to increase specificity while maintaining a negative predictive value (NPV) of >99%. ⋯ This large multicenter observational sample demonstrates that emergency medicine clinicians currently order a D-dimer in the majority of patients tested for PE, including a large proportion with intermediate PTP and high PTP. Varying the D-dimer's cutoff according to PTP can increase specificity with no measurable decrease in NPV.
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Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a devastating disorder that still requires much clinical study. However, the decision to participate in a randomized clinical trial, particularly a neuroemergency trial, is a complex one. The purposes of this survey were to determine who would participate in a randomized clinical trial that intended to examine transfusion practices after SAH, to identify who could serve as potential proxy decision-makers, and to find which patient characteristics were associated with the decision to participate. ⋯ Greater than half of respondents stated they would participate in a proposed emergency treatment trial for SAH. Our survey suggests that the decision to participate is highly individualized, because no demographic, pathologic, historical, or access-related predictors of choice were found. Educational materials designed for this type of trial would need to be broad-based. Family members should be considered as proxy decision-makers where permitted by federal and local regulations.
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Multicenter Study
Predictors of hospital admission for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations in Canadian emergency departments.
The objective was to examine predictors of hospital admission among adults presenting to Canadian emergency departments (EDs) for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Current acute treatment approaches and outcomes 2 weeks after the ED visit are also described. ⋯ Exacerbations of COPD in Canadian EDs result in prolonged ED stays and approximately 50% hospitalization despite aggressive acute treatment approaches. Historical, severity, and treatment-related factors were strongly associated with hospital admission. Validation of these results should be completed prior to widespread use.