Explicit Diagnostic Criteria for Transient Ischemic Attacks Used in the Emergency Department Are Highly Sensitive and Specific

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Carl H. Göbel ◽  
Sarah C. Karstedt ◽  
Thomas F. Münte ◽  
Hartmut Göbel ◽  
Sebastian Wolfrum ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Diagnostic Criteria ◽  
Sensitivity And Specificity ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Correct Diagnosis ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Transient Ischemic Attacks

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Making a correct diagnosis of a transient ischemic attack (TIA) is prone to errors because numerous TIA mimics exist and there is a shortage of evidence-based diagnostic criteria for TIAs. In this study, we applied for the first time the recently proposed explicit diagnostic criteria for transient ischemic attacks (EDCT) to a group of patients presenting to the emergency department of a large German tertiary care hospital with a suspected TIA. The aim was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the EDCT in its clinical application. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A total of 128 patients consecutively presenting to the emergency department of the University Hospital of Lübeck, Germany, under the suspicion of a TIA were prospectively interviewed about their clinical symptoms at the time of presentation. The diagnosis resulting from applying the EDCT was compared to the diagnosis made independently by the senior physicians performing the usual diagnostic work-up (“gold standard”), allowing calculation of sensitivity and specificity of the EDCT. <b><i>Results:</i></b> EDCT achieved a sensitivity of 96% and a specificity of 88%. When adding the additional criterion F (“the symptoms may not be better explained by another medical or mental disorder”), specificity significantly increased to 98%. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> The data show that the EDCT in its modified version as proposed by us are a highly useful tool for clinicians. They display a high sensitivity and specificity to accurately diagnose TIAs in patients referred to the emergency department with a suspected TIA.

scholarly journals Incidental Hyperglycemia and Detection of Diabetes in Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department of a Tertiary Care Hospital

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-31
Author(s):  
Ashish Thapa ◽  
Anugya Amatya ◽  
Roshan Parajuli
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Diagnostic Criteria ◽  
Blood Sugar ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Data Entry ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
Final Outcome ◽  
Undiagnosed Diabetes ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Cross Sectional

Introduction: Nearly half of people with diabetes don’t know they have it. It is often not diagnosed until complications appear. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and prediabetes in patients presenting to the Emergency Department with incidental hyperglycemia, because the duration of hyperglycemia is a predictor of adverse outcomes, and there are effective interventions to prevent disease progression and to reduce complications. Methods: It was an observational cross-sectional study, 720 patients from Emergency Department of Kathmandu Medical College, Sinamangal were screened from December 2018 to March 2019 and a total of 128 patients with incidental hyperglycemia (>140mg/dl) were included. Patients with a previous diagnosis of diabetes, unstable patients and pregnant patients were excluded. Incidental hyperglycemia, fasting blood sugar, 2 hours postprandial blood sugar and HbA1c were noted, data entry was done in Microsoft Excel and analysis was done using the SPSS 24. Results: Total of 128 patients were enrolled for the study.10% of the patients had hyperglycemia and 34% among the hyperglycemic had the finding in the absence of history of diabetes. Incidental hyperglycemia ranged from 150-500 mg/dl. Among the incidental hyperglycemic, 29% and 36% had prediabetes and diabetes respectively. Incidental hyperglycemia was divided into four groups; <159, 160-179, 180-199 and >200 mg/dl, and each group was analyzed with the diagnostic criteria and the final outcome. It was found that each group correlated well with the diagnostic criteria and final outcome and was found to be statistically significant with p<0.0001 based on the Chi square test. Conclusions: Following the patients with incidental hyperglycemia in the Emergency Department, a significant number of undiagnosed diabetes or prediabetes can be diagnosed, early intervention can be started that can prevent progression from prediabetes to diabetes and risk of complications can be reduced.

scholarly journals Etiology of acute undifferentiated fever in patients presenting to the emergency department of a tertiary care center in Karachi, Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noman Ali ◽  
Nadeem Ullah Khan ◽  
Shahid Waheed ◽  
Syed Mustahsan
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Enteric Fever ◽  
Care Center ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Practical Importance ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Categorical Variables ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Tertiary Care Center ◽  
Continuous Variables

Objective: Our study aimed at identifying the characteristics and etiology of various causes of acute undifferentiated fever in patients presenting to the emergency department of a tertiary care hospital. Methods: This was a retrospective study conducted at the department of emergency medicine, Aga Khan University Hospital from January to June 2016. Adult patients presenting to Emergency department with acute undifferentiated fever were enrolled. Descriptive statistics were calculated in terms of mean±SD for continuous variables like age of the patients and duration of fever, whereas frequency and percentage were computed for categorical variables like gender and causes of fever. Results: A total of one hundred and fifty five patients were included. Out of these 97 (62.6%) were males and 58 (37.4%) were females. Most patients (25.2%, n= 39) were diagnosed as malaria followed closely by dengue fever (n=33, 21.3%) and then enteric fever (n= 10, 6.5%). while 41.9% (n=65) were diagnosed as suspected viral fever based on clinical judgment and inconclusive laboratory results. Conclusion: Malaria was found to be the most common confirmed cause of acute undifferentiated fever followed by dengue and enteric fever. The provision of accurate epidemiological data will enable resources to be directed towards key areas and will be of practical importance to clinicians. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.6.2334 How to cite this:Ali N, Khan NU, Waheed S, Mustahsan S. Etiology of acute undifferentiated fever in patients presenting to the emergency department of a tertiary care center in Karachi, Pakistan. Pak J Med Sci. 2020;36(6):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.6.2334 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

scholarly journals Ultrasonography for Endotracheal Tube Placement Confirmation in an Emergency Setting - A Prospective Study in a Teritiary Hospital

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 3545-3549
Author(s):  
Dr. A.Srikanth Reddy ◽  
Dr.Inugala Raj Kumar Reddy ◽  
Dr.Polupangu Hima Bindu
Keyword(s):  
Endotracheal Tube ◽  
Sensitivity And Specificity ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Tube Placement ◽  
Emergency Setting ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Clinical Method ◽  
Clinical Methods ◽  
Endotracheal Tube Placement

Background: Ultrasonography, clinical methods and capnography are used to confirm the proper placement of endotracheal tube. Ultrasonography was thought to have high sensitivity and specificity and took less when compared with other two methods. Aims: To compare ultrasonography with the traditional clinical methods and the gold standard quantitative waveform capnography in confirming the proper placement of endotracheal tube. Materials and Methods: We carried out a prospective cohort study on 120 patients who were indicated for intubation in an emergency department of a tertiary care hospital, Chalmeda Anand Rao Institute of Medical Sciences, Karimnagar, Telangana State, India. The study was carried out from June 2017 to December 2017. The confirmation of endotracheal tube placement was identified by three methods, ultrasonography, quantitative waveform capnography (end-tidal carbon dioxide) and traditional clinical method. The parameters recorded by three methods were confirmation of tube placement and time taken for tube placement. Results: Out of the 120 intubation attempts, six (5 %) had esophageal intubations. Ultrasonography produced a sensitivity and specificity of diagnosis of 98.63% and 100%, respectively, which was statistically comparable with the other two methods. When the time taken to confirm tube placement was compared, it was found that ultrasonography took significantly less time. The time taken by ultrasonography, waveform capnography and clinical methods was 8.13 ± 1.27, 17.86 ± 2.34 and 20.13 ± 2.72 seconds respectively. Conclusion: The endotracheal tube placement was confirmed by ultrasonography with comparable sensitivity and specificity to other two methods i.e. quantitative waveform capnography and clinical methods and it took less time.

The Vacillated Vagrant

2020 ◽  
pp. 187-192
Author(s):  
Pat Croskerry
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Tertiary Care Hospital ◽  
Correct Diagnosis ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Shortness Of Breath ◽  
Chest Tightness ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Fundamental Attribution Error ◽  
Affective Bias

In this case, a middle-aged male is brought to the emergency department of a tertiary care hospital from the airport. He has had an episode of shortness of breath and chest tightness, associated with nausea, paresthesias, and headache. Initially, he undergoes a cardiac workup and is cleared of any problems with his heart. He is discharged to the community and advised to return if there is any recurrence of symptoms. He does return for a further four visits over a 2-week period, during which he is referred to various other disciplines and services before his correct diagnosis is made. The case illustrates how a variety of biases influence the course of his management, notably diagnosis momentum, fundamental attribution error, and affective bias.

Physical examination of psychiatric patients who presented at emergency department in a tertiary care hospital in Sultanate of Oman

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S335-S335
Author(s):  
S. Alhuseini
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Physical Examination ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Vital Signs ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Psychiatric History ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Physical Assessment

ObjectiveTo examine the completeness of physical assessment of patients presenting with psychiatric problems to the emergency department (ED).MethodsThis was observational study based on a retrospective review of the medical records of patients who attended the ED of Sultan Qaboos university hospital and referred to the on-duty psychiatrist for assessment over a 12-month period. All patients aged 16 years and above, who presented to the ED with a psychiatric complaint were included in the study. A data collection sheet was designed to gather each patient's demographic data such as age and gender, past psychiatric history, nature of the presenting complaints, thoroughness of physical assessment, medications prescribed by the ED doctor prior to psychiatric assessment, and whether the patient was discharged, admitted to a psychiatry.ResultsA total of 202 patients met the inclusion criteria. The mean age of the patients was 34.2 years. Females represented 56% of the sample. The majority of the study group (60.4%) were patients with a documented past psychiatric history. Physical examination was conducted in the ED for 61.4% of the patients, while vital signs were recorded for 68.8% of them. Approximately, 31% of the patients required injectable psychotropic medications as tranquillizers in the ED. Patients with an isolated psychiatric complaint coupled with a documented past psychiatric history were more likely to be referred to the on-call psychiatrist without a physical examination by the ED doctors.ConclusionIn our institution, not all patients with psychiatric presentations had a complete physical examination by the ED doctors.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Developing a Trauma Registry for the Emergency Department of a Tertiary Care Hospital in Egypt: A Step Toward Success

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed A. Khalil ◽  
Maged El-Setouhy ◽  
Jon Mark Hirshon ◽  
Mohamed El-Shinawi
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Trauma Registry ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Region ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Healthcare Systems ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
World Health ◽  
Care Hospital

Abstract Background: Trauma continues to be a common problem affecting global healthcare systems. Accordingly, different types of trauma have been considered major causes of morbidity and mortality with approximately 5 million deaths per year. Road traffic injuries, in particular, have been recognized by the World Health Organization as the sixth leading cause of death in the eastern Mediterranean region. Developed countries have realized the importance of implementing registries across all healthcare systems in order to improve service quality. Unfortunately, Egypt has yet to establish a national trauma registry in its hospitals. Although data banks have been available in a few hospitals, they have been inconsistent. Purpose: The present study aimed at developing a trauma registry for a major tertiary hospital in Cairo. Methods: To this end, data from 202 patients admitted to the emergency department of Ain Shams University Hospital due to trauma were collected. Procedures and actions used were then described to create a trauma registry from January to December 2017. Results: The collected data were statistically analyzed, after which the epidemiological distribution of the trauma patients was described. Accordingly, our results showed that among the included patients, 65% were men, while most were single, illiterate, and unemployed. Thereafter, statistics regarding trauma circumstances were generated. In conclusion, the present study found that hospital trauma registries can be established, are essential for improving the quality of healthcare services, and should be utilized ubiquitously throughout the country’s hospitals in order to establish a national registry.

scholarly journals Troponin Testing in the Emergency Department: Real world experience

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 398
Author(s):  
Mohammed Al-Maskari ◽  
Mahmoud Al-Makhdami ◽  
Hatim Al-Lawati ◽  
Hafidh Al-Hadi ◽  
Sunil K. Nadar
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Length Of Hospital Stay ◽  
Final Diagnosis ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Cardiac Symptoms ◽  
Cardiac Condition

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine patterns of troponin testing in the emergency department of a large tertiary care hospital in Oman and to determine its effect on patient management, including length of hospital stay (LOS). Methods: This retrospective study analysed the medical records of all adult patients undergoing troponin testing in the emergency department of the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman, during the month of July 2015. Patients who presented with an ST-elevation myocardial infarction wereexcluded. Results: A total of 4,845 patients attended the emergency department during the study period; of these, troponin tests were ordered for 588 patients. The majority of the patients had negative troponin test results (81.3%). Chest pain, palpitations and breathlessness were the most common presenting complaints for those with positive troponin results. However, 41.8% of patients did not have any cardiac symptoms. Individuals with positive troponin tests had a significantly longer LOS compared to those with negative tests (mean: three versus one day; P = 0.001). In total, only 28.2% of those with positive troponin test results had final diagnoses associated with a cardiac condition, such as heart failure, an acute coronary syndrome (ACS), atrial fibrillation or other types of arrhythmia. Conclusion: A positive troponin test was associated with increased LOS; however, only a small proportion of these patients had a final diagnosis associated with a cardiac condition. Guidelines should be provided to ensure that troponin testing is performed only in cases where an ACS is suspected.

scholarly journals Evaluation of HiCrome KPC Agar for the Screening of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacterales Colonization in the ICU Setting of a Tertiary Care Hospital

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashoka Mahapatra ◽  
K Nikitha ◽  
Sutapa Rath ◽  
Bijayini Behera ◽  
Kavita Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Tertiary Care ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Predictive Values ◽  
Klebsiella Pneumoniae Carbapenemase ◽  
Carbapenem Resistant ◽  
Rectal Swabs ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Indian Setting ◽  
Sensitivity Specificity

Abstract Background Spread of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) is a significant concern in intensive care unit (ICU) settings. Approaches to routine screening for CRE colonization in all ICU patients vary depending on institutional epidemiology and resources. The present study was aimed to evaluate the performance of HiCrome Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC) agar for the detection of CRE colonization in ICU settings taking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended method as reference. Methods Two-hundred and eighty rectal swabs (duplicate) from 140 patients were subjected to CRE detection in HiCrome KPC agar and MacConkey agar (CDC criteria). Results Using CDC method, total 41 CRE isolates were recovered comprising of 29 E scherichia coli, 11 Klebsiella, and 1 Enterobacter spp. On the other hand, 49 isolates of CRE recovered from 140 rectal swabs using HiCrome KPC agar, out of which 33 were E. coli, 15 Klebsiella, and 1 Enterobacter sp. Statistical Analysis Sensitivity, specificity, negative, and positive predictive values of CRE screening by HiCrome KPC agar were found to be 100% (91.4–100), 91.9% (84.8–95.8), 83.6% (70.9–91.4), and 100% (95.9–100), respectively, taking the CDC recommended method as reference. Conclusion HiCrome KPC agar has high sensitivity in screening CRE colonization. Further studies are needed to establish its applicability for detecting the predominant circulating carbapenemases in the Indian setting.

scholarly journals Effective Utilization of Limited Isolation Rooms to Provide Safe Patient Care and Staff Safety in a Low- and Middle-Income Country

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s203-s204
Author(s):  
Rozina Roshanali
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Limited Resource ◽  
Multidrug Resistant ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Safe Patient Care ◽  
Bed Management ◽  
Resource Setting

Background: My tertiary-care hospital is a 750-bed hospital with only 17 airborne infection isolation room (AIIR) and negative-pressure rooms to isolate patients who have been diagnosed or are suspected with prevalent diseases like tuberculosis, measles, and chickenpox. On the other hand, only 14 single-patient isolation rooms are available to isolate patients with multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) such as CRE (carbapenum-resistant Enterobacter) or colistin-resistant MDROs. Due to the limited number of isolation rooms, the average number of hours to isolate infected patients was ~20 hours, which ultimately directly placed healthcare workers (HCWs) at risk of exposure to infected patients. Methods: Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) quality improvement methodology was utilized to decrease the average number of hours to isolate infected patients and to reduce the exposure of HCWs to communicable diseases. A detailed analysis were performed to identify root causes and their effects at multiple levels. A multidisciplinary team implemented several strategies: coordination with information and technology team to place isolation alerts in the charting system; screening flyers and questions at emergency department triage; close coordination with admission and bed management office; daily morning and evening rounds by infection preventionists in the emergency department; daily morning meeting with microbiology and bed management office to intervene immediately to isolate patients in a timely way; infection preventionist on-call system (24 hours per day, 7 days per week) to provide recommendations for patient placement and cohorting of infected patients wherever possible. Results: In 1 year, a significant reduction was achieved in the number of hours to isolate infected patients, from 20 hours to 4 hours. As a result, HCW exposures to communicable diseases also decreased from 6.7 to 1.5; HCW exposures to TB decreased from 6.0 to 1.9; exposures measles decreased from 4.75 to 1.5; and exposures chickenpox decreased from 7.3 to 1.0. Significant reductions in cost incurred by the organization for the employees who were exposed to these diseases for postexposure prophylaxis also decreased, from ~Rs. 290,000 (~US$3,000) to ~Rs. 59,520 (~US$600). Conclusions: This multidisciplinary approach achieved infection prevention improvements and enhanced patient and HCW safety in a limited-resource setting.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None

scholarly journals Development of revised diagnostic criteria for Fuchs’ uveitis syndrome in a Chinese population

2021 ◽  
pp. bjophthalmol-2021-319343
Author(s):  
Peizeng Yang ◽  
Wanyun Zhang ◽  
Zhijun Chen ◽  
Han Zhang ◽  
Guannan Su ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Diagnostic Criteria ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Southern China ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Chinese Patients ◽  
Tertiary Referral Centre ◽  
Tree Algorithms ◽  
Vitreous Opacities ◽  
Fuchs Uveitis Syndrome

Background/aimsFuchs’ uveitis syndrome (FUS) is one of the frequently misdiagnosed uveitis entities, which is partly due to the absence of internationally recognised diagnostic criteria. This study was performed to develop and evaluate a set of revised diagnostic criteria for FUS.MethodsThe clinical data of Chinese patients with FUS and patients with non-FUS were collected and analysed from a tertiary referral centre between April 2008 and December 2020. A total of 593 patients with FUS and 625 patients with non-FUS from northern China were enrolled for the development of diagnostic criteria for FUS. Three hundred and seventy-seven patients with FUS and 503 patients with non-FUS from southern China were used to validate the criteria. Clinical symptoms and ocular signs were collected from all patients with FUS and patients with non-FUS. Multivariate two-step cluster analysis, logistic regression and decision tree algorithms in combination with the clinical judgement of uveitis experts were used to revise diagnostic criteria for FUS.ResultsThree essential findings including diffuse iris depigmentation, absence of posterior synechiae, mild inflammation in the anterior chamber at presentation and five associated findings including mostly unilateral involvement, cataract, vitreous opacities, absence of acute symptoms and characteristic iris nodules were used in the development of FUS diagnostic criteria. All essential findings were required for the diagnosis of FUS, and the diagnosis was further strengthened by the presence of associated findings.ConclusionRevised diagnostic criteria for FUS were developed and validated by analysing data from Chinese patients and showed a high sensitivity (96.55%) and specificity (97.42%).

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document