The American journal of emergency medicine
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Early recognition and antibiotic therapy improve the prognosis of bacterial infections. Triage temperature in the Emergency department (ED) constitutes a diagnostic and prognostic marker of infection. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of community-acquired bacterial infections and the diagnostic ability of conventional biological markers in patients presenting to the ED with hypothermia. ⋯ Community-acquired bacterial infections represent one third of diagnoses in an unselected population presenting to the ED with unexplained hypothermia. CRP level and NLCR appear useful for the diagnosis of causative bacterial infection.
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Altered mental status (including delirium) is a common presentations among older adults to the emergency department (ED). We aimed to report the association between altered mental status in older ED patients and acute abnormal findings on head computed tomogram (CT). ⋯ We did not find a statistically significant association between delirium, confusion or altered mental status and abnormal head CT findings in older ED patients.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Value of integrated pulmonary index to predict exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary Disease's severity.
In this study, we aimed to examine the correlation between current prognostic scores and the integrated pulmonary index (IPI) in patients admitted to the emergency department (ED) with exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and the diagnostic value of using the IPI in combination with other scores in determining patients who can be discharged safely. ⋯ We found that the IPI has good predictive value in the detection of mild COPD exacerbations, and its predictive value increases when used in combination with CURB-65. We think that the CURB-IPI score can be a guide when deciding whether patients with exacerbation of COPD can be discharged.
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Acute COVID-19 infection may be associated with electrocardiogram (EKG) abnormalities in pediatric patients. We have anecdotally observed EKG abnormalities in patients without MIS-C or significant cardiac disease requiring intervention or further follow-up. Our aim was to determine the incidence of abnormal EKG findings and correlate with evidence of significant cardiac pathology in pediatric patients who present to the emergency department during an acute COVID-19 infection. ⋯ Despite a high incidence of abnormal EKG repolarization patterns in pediatric patients presenting with acute (non-MIS-C) COVID-19 infections, these patients generally do not have abnormal cardiac biomarkers or echocardiograms, and the risk for adverse cardiac events is low.