The American journal of emergency medicine
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The frequency of stroke mimics among stroke patients has been reported to be up to 30%, and that in patients who receive thrombolytic therapy ranges between 1% and 16%. Atlantoaxial dislocation with myelopathy mimicking stroke is extremely rare. An 83-year-old man with a history of old cerebellar infarction presented to the emergency department with acute left hemiplegia after a chiropractic manipulation of the neck and back several hours before symptom onset. ⋯ Atlantoaxial dislocation may present as acute hemiplegia mimicking acute stroke, followed by Brown-Sequard syndrome. Inadvertent thrombolytic therapy is likely not harmful for patients with atlantoaxial dislocation-induced cervical myelopathy. The neurological deficits of patients should be carefully and continuously evaluated to differentiate between stroke and myelopathy.
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Observational Study
Prognostic performance of disease severity scores in patients with septic shock presenting to the emergency department.
An accurate disease severity score that can quickly predict the prognosis of patients with sepsis in the emergency department (ED) can aid clinicians in distributing resources appropriately or making decisions for active resuscitation measures. This study aimed to compare the prognostic performance of quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA) with that of other disease severity scores in patients with septic shock presenting to an ED. ⋯ All disease severity scores, including qSOFA, did not display good discrimination for 28-day mortality in patients with serious infection and refractory hypotension or hypoperfusion; additionally, none of the included scoring tools in this study could consistently predict 28-day mortality in the newly defined sepsis and septic shock subgroups.
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Otalgia with mastoiditis is an infrequently encountered complication of acute otitis media (Pfaff and Moore, 2018). Even more rare is the development of infected jugular venous thrombosis, Lemierre's disease. ⋯ The true prevalence of Lemierre's from mastoiditis is difficult to discern. This clinical case highlights the importance of the consideration of these pathologies by the emergency physician.
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This study explored the therapeutic approaches used for end-of-life (EOL) patients admitted to the emergency department (ED) and examined whether the decision to perform life-extending treatment (LET) or to allow natural death (AND) depends on patient characteristics, medical staff variables, and ED setting. ⋯ The therapeutic approach used for EOL patients in the ED depends on variables in all three treatment layers: patient, medical staff, and ED setting. Applicable national programs should be developed to ensure that no external factors influence the dying-process decision.