Articles Tagged With: Diagnostics
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Obstacles to ED Admission Cause Legal Problems
When faced with this tricky situation, emergency physicians should carefully document discussions and remember they are responsible for clearly communicating about the patient’s condition, test results, and indication for admission.
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Few Malpractice Claims Involve Ultrasound
Point-of-care ultrasound has been proven to improve patient care and outcomes in many ways. But novice users express fear of litigation as a barrier.
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New Details Emerge About Acute Flaccid Myelitis, Cases Could Surge This Year
Researchers uncovered evidence indicating enterovirus D68 directly infects neurons in the spinal cord, prompting an immune response that leads to the limb weakness that is characteristic of acute flaccid myelitis. Investigators shed important light on the disease process that takes place in children who develop this polio-like illness. This is progress that can help lead to better treatments.
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Work on Improving the Care of Children with Medical Complexity
Emergency physicians identified significant challenges in providing high-quality emergency care to these patients. These include time constraints, the need to adequately review the expansive medical record for key information, and the need to contact known physicians when making treatment and disposition decisions. Respondents indicated communication with known providers and use of emergency information forms summarizing the child’s medical history were helpful.
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Using Biomarkers to Predict Traumatic Brain Injury Outcomes
Measuring proteins on day of injury could help improve current predictive models.
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Smoking Cessation After Atrial Fibrillation Diagnosis Could Lower Dementia Risk
A cohort study of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) in South Korea revealed patients who stopped smoking after AF diagnosis were at lower risk for developing dementia than those who continued smoking.
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Is the Canadian Syncope Risk Score Valid?
Researchers found the Canadian Syncope Risk Score accurately predicts which patients are low risk for discharge. However, since it is driven largely by the physician’s final risk classification at ED discharge, the score’s clinical utility is uncertain.
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Comparing CT Angiography to Invasive Angiography for Stable Chest Pain Patients
A trial of initial coronary CT angiography vs. invasive angiography revealed outcomes over a median 3.5-year follow-up were similar, but procedure-related complications were more common in the invasive group.
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What Do You Think Happened?
You are asked to interpret the tracing in the figure without the benefit of any history. What do you think happened? How acute are these findings?
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Identifying Pediatric Cervical Spine Injuries
Cervical trauma in pediatrics is fortunately uncommon, but associated with significant morbidity. Early recognition and timely management are essential to optimize the child's outcome. Balanced against this is the need to minimize unnecessary radiation in young children. The authors comprehensively review identifying pediatric cervical spine injuries.