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Current guidelines recommend hypothermia for comatose survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in whom return of circulation has been achieved.
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In a hospital with high ICU bed occupancy, delays in transferring critically ill patients from the emergency department or general wards to the ICU were associated with increased mortality in comparison with immediate transfer to an ICU bed, and this increased mortality was incrementally greater with increasing delay.
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Involving family members in ICU rounds improved satisfaction in some areas, such as physician communication and decision-making support, but failed to improve overall family satisfaction.
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In assessment of acute chest pain in the emergency room, a new or "presumably new" left bundle branch block (LBBB) is considered as an electrocardiographic (ECG) equivalent to ST elevation.
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This retrospective study of more than 7000 patients from four combined medical-surgical ICUs demonstrated that ionized calcium levels are unrelated to mortality over a broad range of values but are independent predictors of mortality when levels are severely increased or decreased.
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Forty-four (23%) of 192 adventure race participants in a 2005 Florida event developed suspected leptospirosis, with confirmatory serologic testing positive in 45% of the tested individuals. A unique serovar (related to species Leptospira noguchii) was isolated from 1 patient.
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Recent outbreaks of measles, mumps, and pertussis prompted this issue. Just this past month, outbreaks of measles were reported in California and Florida. These diseases were thought to be disappearing, but now many are returning. And the emergency physician will be called upon to diagnose and treat them. "Childhood" diseases are now seen in adults, often with more serious morbidity and mortality.
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