Can J Emerg Med
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The incidence of HIV infections in Canada has increased yearly since 2014. New cases of HIV have resulted almost exclusively from non-occupational exposures, including sexual contact and needle sharing. ⋯ The guideline presents a standardized, evidence-based approach to assessing risk for HIV transmission and prescribing HIV prophylaxis. This summary highlights the key points from the guideline that are relevant to the practice of emergency medicine in Canada.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Sex-specific, high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T cut-off concentrations for ruling out acute myocardial infarction with a single measurement.
Sex-specific diagnostic cut-offs may improve the test characteristics of high-sensitivity troponin assays for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction (MI). The objective of this study was to quantify test characteristics of sex-specific cut-offs of a single, high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) assay for 7-day MI in patients with chest pain. ⋯ Sex-specific hs-cTnT cut-offs for ruling out MI at ED arrival may improve classification performance, enabling more patients to be safely ruled out at ED arrival. However, differences between sex-specific and universal cut-off concentrations are within the variation of the assay, limiting the clinical utility of this approach. These findings should be confirmed in other data sets.
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Multicenter Study
Equality of care between First Nations and non-First Nations patients in Saskatoon emergency departments.
Studies show that First Nations patients have worse health outcomes than non-First Nations patients, raising concerns that treatment within the healthcare system, including emergency care, is inequitable. ⋯ In this study, First Nations patients presenting with abdominal pain did not receive delayed care. There were no detectable differences in the time-related care parameters/variables that were provided relative to non-First Nations patients. Meaningful and important qualitative factors need to be examined in the future.