Emergency medicine clinics of North America
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Emerg. Med. Clin. North Am. · Nov 2016
ReviewHeadache in the Emergency Department: Avoiding Misdiagnosis of Dangerous Secondary Causes.
There are a number of dangerous secondary causes of headaches that are life, limb, brain, or vision threatening that emergency physicians must consider in patients presenting with acute headache. Careful history and physical examination targeted at these important secondary causes of headache will help to avoid misdiagnosis in these patients. Patients with acute thunderclap headache have a differential diagnosis beyond subarachnoid hemorrhage. Considering the "context" of headache "PLUS" some other symptom or sign is one strategy to help focus the differential diagnosis.
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Emerg. Med. Clin. North Am. · Nov 2016
ReviewDiagnosis of Acute Neurologic Emergencies in Pregnant and Postpartum Women.
Acute neurologic symptoms in pregnant and postpartum women may be caused by exacerbation of a preexisting neurologic condition, the initial presentation of a non-pregnancy-related problem, or a new neurologic problem. Pregnant and postpartum patients with headache and neurologic symptoms are often diagnosed with preeclampsia or eclampsia; however, other etiologies must also be considered. A team approach with close communication between emergency physicians, neurologists, maternal-fetal medicine specialists, and radiologists is the key to obtaining best outcomes. This article reviews the clinical features and differential diagnosis of acute serious neurologic conditions in pregnancy and the puerperium, focusing on diagnosis.
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Emerg. Med. Clin. North Am. · Nov 2016
ReviewA New Approach to the Diagnosis of Acute Dizziness in Adult Patients.
Dizziness is a common chief complaint in emergency medicine. The differential diagnosis is broad and includes serious conditions, such as stroke, cardiac arrhythmia, hypovolemic states, and acute toxic and metabolic disturbances. ⋯ The traditional approach does not distinguish benign from dangerous causes and is not consistent with best current evidence. This article presents a new approach to the diagnosis of acutely dizzy patients that highly leverages the history and the physical examination.
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Weakness is a common complaint in the emergency department, and a most challenging one, because before the emergency physician can proceed with an evaluation, the complaint of weakness must be fully clarified to determine about what the patient is actually complaining. This article will focus on causes of acute generalized nontraumatic bilateral weakness. Evaluation begins with the history and physical examination, followed by diagnostic testing in some cases.