The American journal of emergency medicine
-
For emergency department (ED) patients with acute exacerbations of heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), we aimed to assess the adherence to evidence-based care and determine the proportion that experienced adverse events. ⋯ A small proportion of return ED visits were related to index care. We believe there is need for improvement around disposition decision making for both conditions to reduce the highly preventable and clinically significant adverse events we found.
-
Case Reports
A prepatellar Morel-Lavallée lesion in a pedestrian vs automobile collision: a case report and discussion.
A small truck collided with a 67-year-old female pedestrian. She sustained blunt, closed trauma to her right knee, and developed a prepatellar Morel-Lavallée lesion (MLL). A MLL is a closed soft tissue degloving injury, resulting from high-energy shearing forces, which separate the skin and subcutaneous tissue from the underlying fascia. ⋯ Most reported cases are proximal to the pelvis, whereas the few reported peri–knee MLLs involve young athletes or postsurgical complications. To our knowledge, this is the third reported case of a non–sport-related MLL of the knee, all of which involved high-inertia force to the knee. Therefore, MLL of the knee should be considered in patients with knee trauma, particularly in the setting of pedestrians struck by motor vehicles.
-
Prompt recognition of electrocardiographic signs of acute coronary occlusion is essential for timely restoration of flow. ST-segment elevation or new onset left bundle-branch block are the most common electrocardiographic changes seen in acute phase of coronary occlusion. However, some patients may present with atypical electrocardiographic signs, and early diagnosis of these patients may constitute a clinical challenge. Here, we report a 41-year-old man presenting with an atypical electrocardiographic manifestation despite angiographically confirmed acute thrombotic occlusion of proximal left anterior descending artery.