Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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The objective was to investigate the association between statin therapy and mortality in emergency department (ED) patients with suspected infection. ⋯ Patients who were admitted to the hospital with infection and received statin therapy while hospitalized had a significantly lower in-hospital mortality compared to patients who did not receive a statin.
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Sonographic thoracic B-lines and N-terminal pro-brain-type natriuretic peptide (NT-ProBNP) have been shown to help differentiate between congestive heart failure (CHF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The authors hypothesized that ultrasound (US) could be used to predict CHF and that it would provide additional predictive information when combined with NT-ProBNP. They also sought to determine optimal two- and eight-zone scanning protocols when different thresholds for a positive scan were used. ⋯ Bedside thoracic US for B-lines can be a useful test for diagnosing CHF. Predictive accuracy is greatly improved when studies are totally positive or totally negative. A two-zone protocol performs similarly to an eight-zone protocol. Thoracic US can be used alone or can provide additional predictive power to NT-ProBNP in the immediate evaluation of dyspneic patients presenting to the ED.
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The objective was to assess symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) associated with witnessing unsuccessful out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on a family member. ⋯ Witnessing a failed CPR attempt of a loved one in an out-of-hospital location may be associated with displaying symptoms of PTSD in the early term of the bereavement period. While preliminary, these data suggest that the relationship exists even after controlling for other potential factors that may also affect the propensity for displaying such symptoms, such as the suddenness and location of the patient's cardiac arrest.
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The North Carolina Disease Event Tracking and Epidemiologic Collection Tool (NC DETECT) is a near-real-time database of emergency department (ED) visits automatically extracted from hospital information system(s) in the state of North Carolina. The National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) is a retrospective probability sample survey of visits to U. S. hospital EDs. ⋯ Rates and proportions of disease groups are similar. Similarity of NC DETECT rates and proportions to NHAMCS provides support for the face and content validity of NC DETECT. The development of statewide near-real-time ED databases is an important step toward the collection, aggregation, and analysis of timely, population-based data by state, to better define the burden of illness and injury for vulnerable populations.
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Comparative Study
Injuries in youth football: national emergency department visits during 2001-2005 for young and adolescent players.
Limited research exists describing youth football injuries, and many of these are confined to specific regions or communities. The authors describe U.S. pediatric football injury patterns receiving emergency department (ED) evaluation and compare injury patterns between the younger and older youth football participants. ⋯ National youth football injury patterns are similar to those previously reported in community and cohort studies. Older participants have a significantly higher injury risk, especially with TBI.