The American journal of emergency medicine
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We report a case of a 22-year-old man who presented to the emergency department (ED) with altered mental status and was diagnosed with eosinophilic meningitis due to Angiostrongylus cantonensis (AC) acquired in the United States after exposure to snails.
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To determine the effectiveness of antibiotic regimens and time to antibiotics in septic patients admitted to an intensive care unit from the emergency department. ⋯ Median times to the first antibiotic administration and last needed appropriate antibiotic administration were less than 3 and 5 hours, respectively; these times were similar between patients who survived and those who died during their hospital stay. Patients with a serum lactate level higher than 2.5 mmol/L were associated with a 2.5-times increased risk of mortality.
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We discuss a 72-year-old woman admitted with acute shortness of breath and severe sharp chest pain several hours after receiving acupuncture therapy. She was subsequently diagnosed as having an iatrogenic pneumothorax secondary to acupuncture. We discuss the complications of acupuncture and why patients should be informed of the risks of such procedures.
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Eperisone hydrochloride is a centrally acting muscle relaxant prescribed for muscle stiffness that acts by depressing the activities of α and γ efferent neurons in the spinal cord and supraspinal structures. Although a case of eperisone-induced severe QT prolongation had been reported, the relationship between serum eperisone concentration and QT interval remains obscure. ⋯ Serum eperisone concentration correlates with QTc interval in patients who overdose on eperisone.
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We assessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients' cerebral oxygenation during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) using near infrared spectrophotometry (NIRS). We evaluated the relation between a rise in patients' cerebral saturation values between the start and end of CPR and return of spontaneous circulation. ⋯ Patients whose cerebral saturation values measured with NIRS rise during CPR have a higher post-resuscitation survival rate. Monitoring of patients during CPR with this non-invasive technique may be a good method for predicting return of spontaneous circulation.