The American journal of emergency medicine
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Assessment of the respiratory changes of the inferior vena cava (IVC) diameter have been investigated as a reliable tool to estimate the volume status in mechanically ventilated and spontaneously breathing patients. Our purpose was to compare the echocardiographic measurements the IVC diameter, stroke volume and cardiac output in different positive pressure ventilation parameters. ⋯ The results of our study suggest that IVC related parameters are not affected with different ventilatory settings. Further studies are needed to confirm the reliability of these parameters as a predictor of fluid assessment.
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Conversion disorder is defined as a disorder with one or more neurological symptoms that accompany psychological conflict, suggesting a physical disorder. It has been shown that patients with conversion disorder have an imbalance in the autonomic nervous system. There are only a limited number of studies that have examined how conversion disorder is related with surface ECG parameters. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of conversion disorder on the surface ECG parameters of patients with conversion disorder admitted to the emergency department. ⋯ This study is the first to show that conversion disorder significantly increases QT, QTc, P wave dispersion, and frontal QRS-T angle.
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Observational Study
The role of the BUN/albumin ratio in predicting mortality in COVID-19 patients in the emergency department.
Due to the high mortality and spread rates of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), there are currently serious challenges in emergency department management. As such, we investigated whether the blood urea nitrogen (BUN)/albumin ratio (BAR) predicts mortality in the COVID-19 patients in the emergency department. ⋯ The BUN, albumin, and BAR levels were found to be reliable predictors of in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients, but BAR was found to be a more reliable predictor than the BUN and albumin levels.
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Comparative Study
Clinical performance of early warning scoring systems for identifying sepsis among anti-hypertensive agent users.
Little is known about the accuracy of the quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) and the National Early Warning Score (NEWS) in identifying sepsis patients with a history of hypertension on anti-hypertensive agents, which affect vital signs as components of the scoring systems. We aimed to examine the ability of qSOFA and NEWS to predict sepsis among anti-hypertensive agent users by comparing them with non-users. ⋯ The clinical performance of qSOFA and NEWS for identifying sepsis among anti-hypertensive agent users was likely lower than that among non-users.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted Emergency Medical Services (EMS) operations throughout the country. Some studies described variation in total volume of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) during the pandemic. We aimed to describe the changes in volume and characteristics of OHCA patients and resuscitations in one urban EMS system. ⋯ Total OHCA increased during the COVID-19 pandemic when compared with the prior year. Although patient characteristics were similar, initial shockable rhythm, and proportion of patients who died in the hospital decreased during the pandemic. Further investigation will explore etiologies of those findings.