European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine
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Multicenter Study
Effect of chest ultrasound on diagnostic workup in elderly patients with acute respiratory failure in the emergency department: a prospective study.
We carried out a prospective study performed in our ED, included patients older than 75 years presenting with acute respiratory failure. Noninclusion criteria were documented palliative care or the need for immediate intensive care. After informed consent approval and routine diagnostic procedure (clinical, radiological and laboratory tests), the ED physician established the first diagnosis. Chest ultrasound was then performed, and a second diagnosis was established. An adjudication committee also established a diagnosis. The unweighted Cohen's kappa (κ) coefficient was used to measure the strength of agreement between routine diagnostic approach, chest ultrasound and adjudication committee diagnosis. ⋯ In our study, chest ultrasound add-on investigation to standard approach improved diagnosis performance in elderly patients presenting to the ED with acute respiratory failure. Further multicenter randomized trials are warranted to confirm this finding.
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Multicenter Study
Effect of gender on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival: a registry-based study.
The aim of the study was to compare outcomes after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) between comparable female and male OHCA cohorts in a large nationwide registry. ⋯ In this large nationwide matched OHCA study, female patients had a better chance of survival with no significant difference in neurological outcome. We also noticed that female patients received delayed care with a shorter resuscitation effort compared to men; these complex issues warrant further specific investigation. Encouraging bystanders to act as quickly as possible and medical teams to care for female patients in the same way as male patients should increase survival rates.