scholarly journals The Etiologies of Altered Level of Consciousness in the Emergency Department: Before versus after Coronavirus Disease-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 141-149
Author(s):  
Dong Hwan Kim ◽  
Jae Cheon Jeon ◽  
In-Cheol Kim ◽  
Yaerim Kim ◽  
Yong Won Cho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Medical Records ◽  
Clinical Characteristics ◽  
Systemic Infection ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Altered Level ◽  
Level Of Consciousness ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Overall Mortality

Background: Altered level of consciousness (ALC) is a challenging condition in the emergency department (ED). We evaluated the clinical characteristics, causes, and prognosis of adult patients presenting with ALC at an ED of a university hospital.Methods: The medical records of patients with ALC who visited the ED of a university hospital from February 2019 to November 2020 were reviewed to compare before and after the outbreak of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) in Daegu, South Korea. The cause of ALC, its classification, the patients’ destinations, and prognosis were carefully decided and compared.Results: A total of 1,851 patients with ALC in ED consisted of 1,068 before COVID-19 (BC; to February 17th, 2020) and 783 after COVID-19 (AC; from February 18th, 2020) were investigated. The all-time leading cause of ALC in ED was systemic infection (29.2% in BC, 25.0% in AC), followed by metabolic cause (21.0%) in BC and stroke (18.4%) in AC. Extra-cerebral etiologies of ALC were 1,206 (65.1%). The overall mortality of ALC in ED was 12.3%, consisting of 11.0% in BC and 14.2% in AC. During the daytime (07:00 to 18:59), patients in overall 1,179 patients (63.7%) with ALC visited ED, consisted of 665 (62.3%) in BC and 514 (65.5%) in AC.Conclusions: This study demonstrated the extra-cerebral etiologies as the major causes of ALC in the ED. And there have been shifts in the etiology of ALC in ED.

scholarly journals Clinical characteristics and outcome of vasculitides

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-9
Author(s):  
Buddhi Prasad Paudyal ◽  
Anjana Education Rajbhandari
Keyword(s):  
Medical Records ◽  
Clinical Characteristics ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Small Vessel ◽  
Small Vessel Vasculitis ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Schonlein Purpura ◽  
Overall Mortality

 Introductions: Vasculitides can cause significant morbidity and mortality if not treated on time. There is lack of data locally. This study aims to define the pattern, clinical characteristics, and outcome of vasculitides.Methods: This was a cross sectional study between January 2011 and December 2015 at Patan Hospital, Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Lalitpur, Nepal. The medical records of patients diagnosed with vasculitides in adults rheumatology service of the hospital were reviewed.Results: Ninety six patients were diagnosed with vasculitides during the study period. The mean age was 42.2 years. Sixty nine (71.8%) patient had small vessel, 20 (20.8%) large vessel and five (5.2%) had variable vessel vasculitides. Seventy five patients (78.1%) had primary and 21 (21.8%) secondary vasculitides. Cutaneous leucocytoclasticangitis was seen in 27 (28.1%), Takayasu arteritis in 17 (17.7), Henoch-Schonlein purpura in 11 (11.4%) and Rheumatoid arthritis associated vasculitis in nine patients. Purpura was present in all 96 (100%). The overall mortality was 9 (9.3%).Conclusions: Primary vasculitides were more common than secondary forms. Small vessel vasculitis was the most common. Cutaneous symptoms were predominant features. The mortality was attributed to active disease, sepsis, and complications of the primary disease. Journal of Patan Academy of Health  Sciences. 2016 Dec;3(2):3-9

scholarly journals Spectrum of Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Children: A Report from PICU of a Resource Limited Country

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qalab Abbas ◽  
Qurat ul Ain Merchant ◽  
Bushra Nasir ◽  
Anwar ul Haque ◽  
Basit Salam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intracerebral Hemorrhage ◽  
Medical Records ◽  
Vascular Malformations ◽  
Pediatric Intensive Care ◽  
Conventional Angiography ◽  
Altered Level ◽  
Vascular Intervention ◽  
Resource Limited ◽  
Level Of Consciousness ◽  
Gender Presentation

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in children is a rare but disabling disease that accounts for almost half cases of stroke. We report our experience of ICH in children. Retrospective review of medical records of children (1 month-16 years) admitted in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit between January 2007 and December 2014 was done. Data collected included age, gender, presentation, examination findings, neuroimaging done (CT, MRI, and angiography) management (conservative/intervention), and outcome. Results are presented as frequency and percentages. Of the total 50 patients, 58% were male and 26% were <1 year. On presentation 44% had vomiting, 42% had seizures, and GCS < 8 while 40% had altered level of consciousness. Single bleed was present in 88%, 94% had supratentorial bleed, and 32% had intraventricular extension. 72% had bleed volume of <30 mL and 8% had >60 mL. CT scan was done in 98% patients and MRI in 34%, while 6% underwent conventional angiography. 60% patients were managed conservatively, 36% underwent neurosurgical intervention, and 6% underwent radiological vascular intervention. Hematologic causes were identified in 52% patients and vascular malformations in 14% and in 26% no cause could be identified. 26% of patients expired.

The effect of training and experience on mass casualty incident triage performance: Evidence from emergency personnel in a high complexity university hospital

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan P. Vargas, MD, MSc ◽  
Ives Hubloue, MD, PhD ◽  
Jazmín J. Pinzón, MD ◽  
Alejandra Caycedo Duque, MD
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Mass Casualty Incident ◽  
Mass Casualty ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Trauma Patients ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Emergency Department Staff ◽  
Department Staff ◽  
Before And After

Mass casualty incident (MCI) can occur at any time and place and health care institutions must be prepared to deal with these incidents. Emergency department staff rarely learn how to triage MCI patients during their medical or nurse degrees, or through on-the-job training. This study aims to evaluate the effect of training and experience on the MCI triage performance of emergency personnel.Methodology: This was a cross-sectional prospective study that analyzed the performance of 94 emergency department staff on the triage classifications of 50 trauma patients, before and after a short training in MCI triage, while taking into account their academic background and work experience.Results: The participants were assigned initially to one of two groups: low experience if they had less than 5 years of practice, and high experience if they had more than 5 years of practice. In the low experience group, the initial accuracy was 45.76 percent, over triage 45.84 percent, and subtriage 8.38 percent. In the high experience group, the initial accuracy was 53.80 percent, over triage 37.66 percent, and sub triage 8.57 percent.Postintervention Results: In the low experience group, the post intervention accuracy was 63.57 percent, over triage 21.15 percent, and subtriage 15.30 percentage. In the high experience group, the post-intervention accuracy was 67.66 percentage, over triage 15.19 percentage, and subtriage 17.14 percentage.  Conclusion: Upon completion of this study, it can be concluded that MCI triage training significantly improved the performance of all those involved in the workshop and that experience plays an important role in MCI triage performance.

scholarly journals Clinical characteristics of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Spain: results from the SEMI-COVID-19 Network

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Manuel Casas Rojo ◽  
Juan Miguel Antón Santos ◽  
Jesús Millán Núñez-Cortés ◽  
Carlos Lumbreras ◽  
José Manuel Ramos Rincón ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Cohort Study ◽  
Respiratory Distress ◽  
Electronic Medical Records ◽  
Medical Records ◽  
Retrospective Cohort ◽  
Clinical Characteristics ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
D Dimer ◽  
Overall Mortality

ABSTRACTBackgroundSpain has been one of the countries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.ObjectiveTo create a registry of patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in Spain in order to improve our knowledge of the clinical, diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic aspects of this disease.MethodsA multicentre retrospective cohort study, including consecutive patients hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 throughout Spain. Epidemiological and clinical data, additional tests at admission and at seven days, treatments administered, and progress at 30 days of hospitalization were collected from electronic medical records.ResultsUp to April 30th 2020, 6,424 patients from 109 hospitals were included. Their median age was 69.1 years (range: 18-102 years) and 56.9% were male. Prevalences of hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus were 50.2%, 39.7%, and 18.7%, respectively. The most frequent symptoms were fever (86.2%) and cough (76.5%). High values of ferritin (72.4%), lactate dehydrogenase (70.2%), and D-dimer (61.5%), as well as lymphopenia (52.6%), were frequent. The most used antiviral drugs were hydroxychloroquine (85.7%) and lopinavir/ritonavir (62.4%). 31.5% developed respiratory distress. Overall mortality rate was 21.1%, with a marked increase with age (50-59 years: 4.2%, 60-69 years: 9.1%, 70-79 years: 21.4%, 80-89 years: 42.5%, ≥ 90 years: 51.1%).ConclusionsThe SEMI-COVID-19 Network provides data on the clinical characteristics of patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in Spain. Patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in Spain are mostly severe cases, as one in three patients developed respiratory distress and one in five patients died. These findings confirm a close relationship between advanced age and mortality.

Suicide attempts in emergency department

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S170-S170
Author(s):  
K. Hajji ◽  
I. Marrag ◽  
R. Ben soussia ◽  
L. Zarrouk ◽  
S. Younes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Clinical Characteristics ◽  
Suicide Attempts ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Medical Emergency ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Adequate Care ◽  
Competing Interest ◽  
The University

IntroductionThe suicide attempt is a real challenge for the clinician who works at the emergency department in order to identify and propose an adequate care.AimsTo estimate the prevalence of the suicide attempts, to describe the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and to identify the predictors of recurrence.MethodsOur cross-sectional study was conducted at the medical emergency department of the university hospital of Mahdia and lasted for 12 months. Data were collected using a questionnaire of 51 items exploring the general and clinical characteristics and providing information of the treatment.ResultsAmong the 513 consultants, 90 had attempted suicide (17,5%). We found an average age of 26 years old, a sex-ratio (M/F) of 0,3, a secondary education level (53,3%), an unemployment and a single status (38,9% and 75,6%). The presence of psychiatric personal history and/or suicide attempts was found in 31,1% and 33,3% of cases. Suicide attempts were taken place in all cases at home, between 18 and midnight (43,3%), without premeditation (82,2%), in the presence of triggering factor (95,6%), during the last 3 months of the year (34,4%). In 70,2% of cases, the type of the suicide attempts was a drug intoxication. 67,8% of the suicide attempters regretted and criticized their acts.ConclusionA good assessment of the suicide risk determines the type of intervention that should be established and allows an adequate care.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Human granulocytic anaplasmosis in a Single University Hospital in the Republic of Korea

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Da Young Kim ◽  
Jun-Won Seo ◽  
Na Ra Yun ◽  
Choon-Mee Kim ◽  
Dong-Min Kim
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Clinical Characteristics ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis ◽  
Granulocytic Anaplasmosis ◽  
Genetic Features ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Low Sensitivity ◽  
Time Of Admission

AbstractTo date, only a few studies have analyzed the clinical characteristics and genetic features of human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) in South Korea. Thus, in this study, we investigated the clinical characteristics of HGA and methods used for clinical diagnosis. The clinical characteristics of patients with HGA were studied retrospectively. We reviewed the medical charts of 21 confirmed patients with HGA admitted to the Chosun University Hospital, located in Gwangju, South Korea. Twenty-one HGA patients visited the hospital 2–30 days (median 7 days) after the onset of symptoms. Fourteen patients (66.7%) had fever, which was alleviated 2 h (range 0–12.75 h) after starting treatment with doxycycline. Of the 18 patients who underwent peripheral blood (PB) smear test, only one (5.6%) had morulae. Additionally, only 4/17 patients (23.5%) had morulae in the PB smear reconducted after the confirmation of anaplasmosis. All 21 patients recovered without significant complications. As per results of the blood tests conducted at the time of admission, 7/21 (33.3%) and 5/21 (23.8%) patients showed at least 1:16 and 1:80 of IgM and IgG titers, respectively. Most HGA patients in Korea recovered without significant complications. The indirect immunofluorescence antibody diagnosis or morulae identification for HGA in this study had low sensitivity in the early stage of the disease.

scholarly journals Association between clinical characteristics and laboratory findings with outcome of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, a report from northeast of Iran

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sahar Sobhani ◽  
Reihaneh Aryan ◽  
Elham Kalantari ◽  
Salman Soltani ◽  
Nafise Malek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chest Pain ◽  
Medical Records ◽  
Clinical Characteristics ◽  
C Reactive Protein ◽  
Laboratory Findings ◽  
Reactive Protein ◽  
Level Of Consciousness ◽  
Laboratory Features ◽  
Duration Of Hospitalization ◽  
Male Sex

AbstractCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first discovered in December 2019 in China and has rapidly spread worldwide. Clinical characteristics, laboratory findings, and their association with the outcome of patients with COVID-19 can be decisive in management and early diagnosis. Data were obtained retrospectively from medical records of 397 hospitalized COVID-19 patients between February and May 2020 in Imam Reza hospital, northeast of Iran. Clinical and laboratory features were evaluated among survivors and non-survivors. The correlation between variables and duration of hospitalization and admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) was determined. Male sex, age, hospitalization duration, and admission to ICU were significantly related to mortality rate. Headache was a more common feature in patients who survived (p = 0.017). It was also related to a shorter stay in the hospital (p = 0.032) as opposed to patients who experienced chest pain (p = 0.033). Decreased levels of consciousness and dyspnea were statistically more frequent in non-survivors (p = 0.003 and p = 0.011, respectively). Baseline white blood cell count (WBC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) were significantly higher in non-survivors (p < 0.001). Patients with higher WBC and CRP levels were more likely to be admitted to ICU (p = 0.009 and p = 0.001, respectively). Evaluating clinical and laboratory features can help clinicians find ways for risk stratifying patients and even make predictive tools. Chest pain, decreased level of consciousness, dyspnea, and increased CRP and WBC levels seem to be the most potent predictors of severe prognosis.

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