The American journal of emergency medicine
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Letter Case Reports
Early diagnosis of atrial fibrillation using a E-health application.
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Comparative Study Observational Study
Integrating point-of-care ultrasound in the ED evaluation of patients presenting with chest pain and shortness of breath.
The differential diagnoses of patients presenting with chest pain (CP) and shortness of breath (SOB) are broad and non-specific. We aimed to 1) determine how use of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) impacted emergency physicians' differential diagnosis, and 2) evaluate the accuracy of POCUS when compared to chest radiograph (CXR) and composite final diagnosis. ⋯ In evaluation of patients with CP and SOB, POCUS is a highly feasible diagnostic test which can assist in narrowing down the differential diagnoses. In patients with a normal thoracic ultrasound, the added value of a CXR may be minimal.
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Acute liver failure (ALF) remains a high-risk clinical presentation, and many patients require emergency department (ED) management for complications and stabilization. ⋯ ALF remains a rare clinical presentation, but has significant morbidity and mortality. Physicians must rapidly diagnose these patients while evaluating for other diseases and complications. Early consultation with a transplantation center is imperative, as is identifying the underlying etiology and initiating symptomatic care.
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The primary objective of this study was to compare Emergency Department patients with first-time versus recurrent acute pancreatitis. ⋯ ED patients with recurrent acute pancreatitis demonstrated more significant findings on CT compared to patients with first-time acute pancreatitis but were less likely to require ICU admission.
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Interest in ultrasonography in emergency medicine has increased in recent years, as reflected by a marked increase in publications on the topic. The aim of this study was to 1) describe and evaluate methodological characteristics of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating an ultrasound intervention in emergency department and 2) estimate whether the reports adequately described the intervention to allow replication. ⋯ The quality of these trials raises questions. In our sample, the authors did not correctly report blinding of participants and assessors or allocation concealment.