The American journal of emergency medicine
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The literature on scientific publication errors in medical research is limited, and no studies on emergency medicine publications have been conducted yet. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of the publication errors in emergency medicine literature. ⋯ Publications errors are inevitable, but it is possible to minimize them. The number of corrections in emergency medicine literature is at a low rate and show many similarities with the previous literature.
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In the prehospital setting, early identification of septic shock (SS) at risk of poor outcome is mainly based on clinical vital signs alteration evaluation. The Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) is an in-hospital tool used for burden of co-morbidity assessment. We report the relationship between the modified prehospital CCI, and 30-day mortality of SS patients initially cared for in the prehospital setting by a mobile ICU (MICU). ⋯ Among septic shock patients initially cared for by a MICU in the prehospital setting, a significant association between 30-day mortality. A modified prehospital CCI of at least 6 appears to be useful for early identification of septic shock patients with poorer outcome.
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Orbital compartment syndrome is an ophthalmologic emergency that requires immediate intervention to preserve eyesight. This case highlights a rare, delayed presentation of orbital compartment syndrome requiring emergent lateral orbital canthotomy.
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Hypothermic infants are at risk for serious bacterial and herpes simplex virus infections, but there are no evidence-based guidelines for managing these patients. We sought to characterize variations and trends in care for these infants in the emergency department (ED). ⋯ Substantial hospital-level variation exists for managing hypothermic infants in the ED. Long-term trends are notable for changing practice over time, particularly with increased use of inflammatory markers. Prospective studies are needed to risk stratify and optimize care for this population.
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Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) is a rare channelopathy involving cardiac calcium metabolism that often shows up at an early age with misleading clinical symptoms such as emotion or exercise-related syncope with a normal resting ECG, however, if misdiagnosed, CPVT can lead to cardiac arrest in children or young adults. We describe the case of a 27-year-old woman with several misdiagnosed syncopal episodes leading to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Her previous medical history, combined with automatic external defibrillator records (AED) and clinical data, strongly suggested the diagnosis of CPVT. Thus beta blocker therapy was immediately started and targeted genetic test undertaken, revealing a previously unreported heterozygous variant in the ryanodine receptor-2 (RYR2) gene.