European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Epidemiology of patients presenting with dyspnea to emergency departments in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
The primary objective of this study was to describe the epidemiology and management of dyspneic patients presenting to emergency departments (EDs) in an international patient population. Our secondary objective was to compare the EURODEM and AANZDEM patient populations. ⋯ Dyspnea as a symptom in the ED has high ward and ICU admission rates. A variety of causes of dyspnea were observed in this study, with chronic diseases accounting for a major proportion.
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Multicenter Study
Prognostic value of prehospital quick sequential organ failure assessment score among patients with suspected infection.
After the third international consensus on sepsis released its new definitions, the prognostic value of quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA) score has been confirmed in the emergency department. However, its validity in the prehospital setting remains unknown. The objective of the study was to assess its accuracy for prehospital patients cared by emergency physician-staffed ambulances (services mobiles d'urgence et de réanimation SMUR). ⋯ In this large multicenter study, prehospital qSOFA presents a strong association with mortality in infected patient, though with poor prognostic performances in our severely ill sample.
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Multicenter Study
Trend analysis of emergency department malpractice claims in the Netherlands: a retrospective cohort analysis.
Over the past two decades, several quality improvement projects have been implemented in emergency departments (EDs) in the Netherlands, one of these being the training and deployment of emergency physicians. In this study we aim to perform a trend analysis of ED quality of care in Dutch hospitals, as measured by the incidence of medical malpractice claims. ⋯ Even though the number of ED visits increased significantly over the past two decades, the number of malpractice claims filed after an ED visit decreased. Various quality improvement initiatives, including the training and employment of emergency physicians, may have contributed to the observed decrease in claims.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Drowning in fresh or salt water: respective influence on respiratory function in a matched cohort study.
For the most severe drowned patients, hypoxemia represents one of the major symptoms. As the influence of the type of water (fresh or salt water) on respiratory function is still unclear, the primary endpoint of this multicenter study was to compare hypoxemia according to the type of water. ⋯ Drowning in fresh water was associated with deeper hypoxemia in the initial assessment. Despite this initial difference, latter respiratory and biological parameters or outcome were similar in both groups.