The Journal of the Louisiana State Medical Society : official organ of the Louisiana State Medical Society
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A 53-year-old woman was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) confirmed by bone marrow biopsy to be pre-B ALL. The patient underwent a hyperfractionated cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and dexamethosone (hyper-CVAD) regimen, except the doxorubicin was withheld. She received two intrathecal injections of cytarabine and methotrexate and two months later presented to Tulane University Hospital with paresthesias and weakness causing her to be wheelchair bound.
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Comparative Study
Electrocardiographic abnormalities in patients with acute burn injuries.
To determine the incidence and types of electrocardiographic (ECG) abnormalities in patients admitted with acute burn injuries and correlate them with the degree and the extent of burn injuries. ⋯ In patients with acute burn injuries sinus tachycardia and a prolonged QT interval were the most common ECG abnormalities. There was no correlation between the extent of burn injuries and observed ECG abnormalities. No patient had a life threatening arrhythmia, and all patients had a good outcome.
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Review Case Reports
A paraplegic man with altered mental status and fever.
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Hurricane Katrina uncovered and exaggerated Louisiana's behavioral health crisis. Patients with mental illness are backlogged in emergency rooms across the state, unable to access inpatient psychiatric treatment. Post-Katrina, part of the department of psychiatry of the Louisiana State University (LSU) New Orleans was displaced to Huey P. ⋯ However, EDs throughout the nation traditionally have not had the provisions necessary for optimal behavioral healthcare. In this article, we will address barriers to implementing proper provisions for sound behavioral healthcare in the ED. We will outline an affordable and available mental health personnel infrastructure that integrates with the ED's medical model of care, and improves quality of care of the mentally ill and the functional level of the ED, as well as the morale and job satisfaction of ED healthcare providers.