Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Baseline electrocardiogram abnormalities and market elevations not associated with myocardial necrosis make accurate diagnosis of myocardial infarction (MI) difficult in patients with cocaine-associated chest pain. Troponin sampling may offer greater diagnostic utility in these patients. ⋯ Most patients with cTnI elevations meet CK-MB criteria for MI, as well as have a high incidence of underlying significant disease. Troponin appears to have an equivalent diagnostic accuracy compared with CK-MB for diagnosing necrosis in patients with cocaine-associated chest pain and suspected MI.
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The Wood's lamp (WL) has been used in sexual assault evaluations. Recent data have shown that semen does not fluoresce with a WL and that physicians are unable to differentiate semen from other common medicaments using a WL. ⋯ Physicians instructed in the use of an alternate light source (BM 500) are able to identify semen as fluorescing and can differentiate semen (after a training session) from other commonly used products.
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Comparative Study
A comparison of the antemortem clinical diagnosis and autopsy findings for patients who die in the emergency department.
In spite of advances in medical technology, there remains a high discrepancy rate between the antemortem clinical diagnosis and postmortem examination diagnosis for patients who die in hospitals. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical and postmortem examination diagnoses of patients who died in the emergency department (ED) of a tertiary hospital, and to analyze any discrepancy between them. ⋯ There is a significant discrepancy rate between the antemortem diagnosis and the autopsy diagnosis. However, in this study, serious missed diagnoses in which outcome may have been significantly altered are unusual among those who die in the ED of a tertiary referral hospital.