J Emerg Med
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Case Reports
Prepubertal Genital Bleeding: Examination and Differential Diagnosis in Pediatric Female Patients.
Prepubertal genital bleeding can be caused by a variety of etiologies including trauma, infection, structural, hematologic disorders, precocious puberty, and malignancy. Urethral prolapse can be seen in prepubescent girls due to a relative estrogen deficiency. Urethral prolapse classically presents with urethral mass and vaginal bleeding, often associated with constipation. ⋯ A healthy 6-year-old White girl presented to the Pediatric Emergency Department (ED) with vaginal bleeding for 1 day preceded by a few months of constipation. In the ED the patient's physical examination was remarkable for a tender, nonmobile mass at the vaginal introitus. Transabdominal pelvic and renal ultrasounds were unremarkable. The emergency physician's working diagnosis was a vaginal mass concerning for sarcoma botryoides. Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (PAG) was consulted. They performed an examination under anesthesia (EUA) with cystoscopy and vaginoscopy. The EUA confirmed a urethral prolapse approximately 2 cm in diameter. The patient was treated with conjugated estrogen vaginal cream. At her 1-month follow-up, the urethral prolapse had resolved. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Performing a proper pelvic examination of a prepubescent girl presenting with vulvovaginal bleeding is crucial to form an accurate diagnosis in the ED setting. By placing the young girl in the frog-leg or knee-chest position and using both lateral and downward traction of the vulva, one can adequately visualize the external genitalia and outer 1/3 of the vagina. This can help streamline diagnosis and avoid unnecessary examinations and anxiety.
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Acute heart failure is a heterogenous syndrome defined by a number of factors, such as its physiopathology, clinical picture, time of onset, and relation to acute coronary syndrome. Acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema (ACPE) constitutes approximately 10-20% of acute heart failure syndromes, and it is the most dramatic symptom of left heart failure. Platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) is a relatively novel inflammatory marker that can be utilized for prognosis in various disease processes. ⋯ We showed an association between high PLR and mortality in patients with ACPE. PLR, together with other inflammatory markers and clinical findings, may be used as an adjunctive parameter for the stratification of mortality risk, hospitalization, or discharge criteria scoring.
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Acute pericardial pathologies, such as pericardial effusion, pericarditis, and cardiac tamponade, have been reported rarely in patients presenting as ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). We present a series of 3 patients with STEMI, where an undiagnosed pericardial effusion led to pericardial tamponade and subsequent cardiocirculatory collapse. ⋯ This is a case series of 3 patients, all women, aged 72, 64, and 54 years who presented to the emergency department with chest pain or syncope and were found to have STEMI with hemodynamic instability. They were taken to the catheterization laboratory for urgent coronary revascularization requiring mechanical circulatory support (intra-aortic balloon pump or impella). During catheterization, all 3 patients were diagnosed with large pericardial effusion using hemodynamic parameters and bedside transesophageal echocardiogram. Commonly ignored, pericardial tamponade and acute large pericardial effusion can be the cause of cardiocirculatory collapse. Two of the 3 patients survived with aggressive interventions requiring pericardial drains, long-term mechanical circulatory support, and effective postoperative rehabilitation. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: It is important for treating clinicians, including emergency physicians, intensivist, and cardiologist, to consider the differential of a cardiac tamponade due to a pericardial effusion as a potential cause for hypotension in patients with an acute STEMI.
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Case Reports
Novel Uses of Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Pediatric Foreign Bodies: An Emergency Department Case Series.
Foreign bodies (FBs) are a diagnostic challenge to pediatric emergency providers. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is an important adjunct to the diagnostic pathway of children with suspected FBs. ⋯ This case series describes three examples of novel extended ultrasonography uses in the pediatric emergency department for the detection of FBs involving different organ systems (i.e., abdominal, esophageal, and scrotal). WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: FBs are a diagnostic challenge to pediatric emergency providers. POCUS should be recognized as an important adjunct to the diagnostic pathway of children with suspected FBs. When used thoughtfully, it can narrow the differential diagnosis, guide further confirmatory investigations, reduce cognitive burden, and tailor downstream patient care.
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Anomalous coronary artery origins appear in roughly 1% of coronary angiograms, and up to 15% of syncope and sudden cardiac death events can be attributed to anomalous coronaries. Patients with an anomalous coronary artery arising from the opposite sinus may initially present with syncope and electrocardiographic findings of ischemia. ⋯ We describe a case in which an adolescent male presented with exercise-induced angina and syncope, and his initial electrocardiogram (ECG) showed diffuse ST-segment depression with ST-segment elevation in lead aVR. Cardiac catheterization revealed there was no coronary ostium in the left coronary cusp, and the left coronary artery had an anomalous origin from the right cusp. The patient received urgent left internal mammary artery-to-left anterior descending artery coronary bypass and a saphenous vein graft to the ramus intermedius. After he underwent 6 months of medical therapy with β-blockade and angiotensin-receptor blockade, his left ventricular systolic function improved to low-normal level (left ventricular ejection fraction, approximately 50%). WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: ST-segment elevation in lead aVR is strongly prognostic for left main or triple-vessel coronary artery disease. However, in patients who present with syncope and few other coronary artery disease risk factors, this ECG finding should be suggestive of an ischemic event caused by an anomalous left coronary artery. Early recognition of this pattern of clinical signs and ECG findings by an emergency physician could be critical for making the correct diagnosis and risk stratifying the patient for early coronary angiography and urgent surgical revascularization.