J Emerg Med
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Acute aortic dissection is a life-threatening disease that is often a diagnostic challenge in the Emergency Department (ED). Patients with acute aortic dissection often have underlying hypertension and atherosclerotic disease, and commonly present with acute-onset severe chest or back pain in their sixth or seventh decades of life. Aortic dissection, however, can also be seen in patients < 40 years old and may present chronically, with symptom duration longer than 2 weeks. ⋯ Acute and chronic thoracic aortic dissections can occur in patients of all ages, as well as in patients with atypical signs and symptoms.
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The practice of avoiding cephalosporin administration to penicillin-allergic patients persists despite the low rate of cross reactions between both groups of antibiotics. ⋯ Although a myth persists that approximately 10% of patients with a history of penicillin allergy will have an allergic reaction if given a cephalosporin, the overall cross-reactivity rate is approximately 1% when using first-generation cephalosporins or cephalosporins with similar R1 side chains. However, a single study reported the prevalence of cross reactivity with cefadroxil as high as 27%. For penicillin-allergic patients, the use of third- or fourth-generation cephalosporins or cephalosporins with dissimilar side chains than the offending penicillin carries a negligible risk of cross allergy.