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 An Online Tool for Nurse Triage to Evaluate Risk for Acute Coronary Syndrome at Emergency Department

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuwares Sittichanbuncha ◽  
Patchaya Sanpha-asa ◽  
Theerayut Thongkrau ◽  
Chaiyapon Keeratikasikorn ◽  
Noppadol Aekphachaisawat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Acute Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Chest Pain ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Previous History ◽  
Final Diagnosis ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Online Tool ◽  
Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Nurse Triage

Background. To differentiate acute coronary syndrome (ACS) from other causes in patients presenting with chest pain at the emergency department (ED) is crucial and can be performed by the nurse triage. We evaluated the effectiveness of the ED nurse triage for ACS of the tertiary care hospital.Methods. We retrospectively enrolled consecutive patients who were identified as ACS at risk patients by the ED nurse triage. Patients were categorized as ACS and non-ACS group by the final diagnosis. Multivariate logistic analysis was used to predict factors associated with ACS. An online model predictive of ACS for the ED nurse triage was constructed.Results. There were 175 patients who met the study criteria. Of those, 28 patients (16.0%) were diagnosed with ACS. Patients with diabetes, patients with previous history of CAD, and those who had at least one character of ACS chest pain were independently associated with having ACS by multivariate logistic regression. The adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) were 4.220 (1.445, 12.327), 3.333 (1.040, 10.684), and 12.539 (3.876, 40.567), respectively.Conclusions. The effectiveness of the ED nurse triage for ACS was 16%. The online tool is available for the ED triage nurse to evaluate risk of ACS in individuals.

Abstract 14721: Impact of Covid-19 on Cardiology Consultation in Tertiary Care Hospital of a Developing Country

Circulation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (Suppl_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
ghufran adnan ◽  
Osman Faheem ◽  
Maria Khan ◽  
Pirbhat Shams ◽  
Jamshed Ali
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Reduction Rate ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Drastic Increase ◽  
Chi Square Test ◽  
The Difference

Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmed the healthcare system of Pakistan. There has been observation regarding changes in pattern of patient presentation to emergency department (ED) for all diseases particularly cardiovascular. The aim of the study is to investigate these changes in cardiology consultations and compare pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 era. Hypothesis: There is a significant difference in cardiology consultations during COVID era as compared to non-COVID era. Method: We collected data retrospectively of consecutive patients who visited emergency department (ED) during March-April 2019 (non-COVID era) and March-April 2020 (COVID era). Comparison has been made to quantify the differences in clinical characteristics, locality, admission, type, number, and reason of Cardiology consults generated. Results: We calculated the difference of 1351 patients between COVID and non-COVID era in terms of cardiology consults generated from Emergency department, using Chi-square test. Out of which 880 (59%) are male with mean age of 61(SD=15). Analysis shows pronounced augmentation in number of comorbidities [Hypertension(6%), Chronic kidney disease (6%), Diabetes (5%)] but there was 36% drop in total cardiology consultations and 43% reduction rate in patient’s ED visit from other cities during COVID era. There was 60% decrease in acute coronary syndrome presentation in COVID era, but fortuitously drastic increase (30%) in type II myocardial injury has been noted. Conclusion: There is a remarkable decline observed in patients presenting with cardiac manifestations during COVID era. Lack in timely care could have a pernicious impact on outcomes, global health care organizations should issue directions to adopt telemedicine services in underprivileged areas to provide timely care to cardiac patients.

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.

Impaired Consciousness in the Emergency Department

2018 ◽  
Vol 80 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 179-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Völk ◽  
Uwe Koedel ◽  
Hans-Walter Pfister ◽  
Roland Schwankhart ◽  
Mark op den Winkel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Epileptic Seizures ◽  
Transient Global Amnesia ◽  
Final Diagnosis ◽  
Sudden Onset ◽  
Time Of Arrival ◽  
Clinical Approach ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Impaired Consciousness

Background: The approach to unconscious patients in the emergency department (ED) is difficult, often depends on local resources and interests, and workup strategies often lack standardization. One reason for this is that data on causes, management, and outcome of patients who present to the ED with sudden onset unconsciousness of unknown cause is limited. Objectives: This study was performed to analyze the causes of acute impaired consciousness in patients in an interdisciplinary ED. Methods: Here, we analyzed all patients who were admitted to the ED of a tertiary care hospital with the dominating symptom of “sudden onset unconsciousness” within 1 year (September 2014 until August 2015). Patients with a clear diagnosis at arrival that explained the altered state of consciousness or other dominating symptoms at the time of arrival were not included. Results: A total of 212 patients were analyzed. In 88% of the patients, a final diagnosis could be established in the ED. Most common causes for unconsciousness were cerebrovascular diseases (24%), infections (14%), epileptic seizures (12%), psychiatric diseases (8%), metabolic causes (7%), intoxications (7%), transient global amnesia (5%), and cardiovascular causes (4%). The diagnoses were predominantly established by physical examination in combination with computed tomography (23%) and by the results of laboratory testing (25%). In-hospital mortality was 11%, and 59% of all patients were discharged with a Glasgow Outcome Score of 2–4. Conclusions: This analysis demonstrates a large variety of etiologies in patients with unknown unconsciousness of acute onset who are admitted to an ED. As neurological diagnoses are among the most common etiologies, neurological qualification is required in the ED, and availability of diagnostics such as cerebral imaging is indispensable and recommended as an early step in a standardized clinical approach.

scholarly journals Can troponin I measurement predict short-term serious cardiac outcomes in patients presenting to the emergency department with possible acute coronary syndrome?

CJEM ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 6 (01) ◽  
pp. 22-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen A. Hill ◽  
P.J. Devereaux ◽  
Lauren Griffith ◽  
John Opie ◽  
Matthew J. McQueen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Acute Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Troponin I ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Cardiovascular Death ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Likelihood Ratios ◽  
Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Cardiac Outcomes ◽  
Cardiac Outcome

ABSTRACT Objective: To determine the ability of troponin I (TnI) measurement to predict the likelihood of a serious cardiac outcome over the subsequent 72 hours in patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with symptoms suggestive of an acute coronary syndrome. Methods: This prospective observational study enrolled consecutive patients presenting to 2 urban tertiary care hospital EDs over a 5-week period. Eligible patients included those for whom a TnI test was ordered within 24 hours of arrival and in whom no serious cardiac outcome occurred before the test result was available. Patients were followed for 72 hours and serious cardiac outcomes documented; these included cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, serious arrhythmia and refractory pain. We calculated likelihood ratios (LRs) to describe the association of the TnI result with serious cardiac outcomes. Results: Of the 352 enrolled patients, 20 had a serious cardiac outcome within 72 hours of ED presentation. The derived LRs (and 95% confidence interval [CI]) were 0.5 (0.3–0.9) for TnI values <0.5 µg/L, 1.6 (0.4–6.5) for TnI values from 0.5 to 2.0 µg/L, 5.8 (1.7–19.5) for TnI values from >2.0 to 10.0 µg/L and 14.4 (4.8–42.9) for TnI values >10.0 µg/L. Conclusions: TnI values >2.0 µg/L are associated with an increased probability of serious cardiac outcomes within 72 hours. TnI values between 0.5 and 2.0 µg/L are weakly positive predictors. TnI values <0.5 µg/L have LRs in the range of 0.5 and thus are weakly negative predictors, not substantially decreasing the likelihood of serious cardiac outcomes, particularly in patients with a moderate or high pretest probability.

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 A study of patients who presented with acute coronary syndrome to an emergency department in a tertiary care hospital in Sri Lanka

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (Suppl 2) ◽  
pp. s48-s48
Author(s):  
Priyamali Jayasekera ◽  
GKG Dasanayake ◽  
PMK Bandara ◽  
DANL Jayawardhena ◽  
KMS Malkanthi
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Acute Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Tertiary Care Hospital ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Coronary Syndrome

scholarly journals Evaluation of the frequency of patients with cancer presenting to an emergency department

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (10) ◽  
pp. 1402-1408
Author(s):  
Cem Isikber ◽  
Muge Gulen ◽  
Salim Satar ◽  
Akkan Avci ◽  
Selen Acehan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Emergency Services ◽  
Care Center ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Length Of Hospital Stay ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Oncological Emergency ◽  
Frequency Of Use ◽  
Hospital Patients ◽  
Use Of Emergency Services

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: This study aims to determine the demographic characteristics of cancer patients admitted to an emergency department and determine the relationship between the frequency of admission to the emergency department and oncological emergencies and their effect on mortality. METHODS: This observational, prospective, diagnostic accuracy study was performed in the ED of a tertiary care hospital. Patients over the age of 18 who were previously diagnosed with cancer and admitted to the emergency service for medical reasons were included in the study. We recorded baseline characteristics including age, gender, complaints, oncological diagnosis, metastasis status, cancer treatments received, the number of ED admissions, structural and metabolic oncological emergency diagnoses in the ED, discharge status, length of hospital stay, and mortality status. RESULTS: In our study, 1205 applications related to the oncological diagnosis of 261 patients were examined. 55.6% of the patients were male, and 44.4% were female. The most common metabolic oncological emergency was anemia (19.5%), and the most common structural oncological emergency was bone metastasis-fracture (4.6%.) The mean score of admission of patients to the emergency department was four times (min: 1 max: 29) during the study period. A total of 49.4% (n: 129) of the patients included in the study died during follow-up, and the median time of death was 13 days after the last ED admission. CONCLUSION: The palliation of patient symptoms in infusion centers that will be established in the palliative care center will contribute to the decrease in the frequency of use of emergency services.

scholarly journals Utility of a Bedside Pocket-Sized Ultrasound Device to Promptly Manage Abdominal Pain in the Emergency Department

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-21
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Abdominal Pain ◽  
Imaging Modality ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Area Under The Curve ◽  
Final Diagnosis ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Operating Characteristics ◽  
Early Assessment

Introduction: Abdominal pain is a frequent reason for Emergency Department (ED) admission; it amounts for around 5–10% of all ED visits. Early assessment should focus on immediately distinguishing cases of acute abdomen that require urgent surgical intervention. The clinical localization of pain is crucial, suggesting an initial evaluation of the origin of the abdominal pain; however, imaging is often required for final diagnosis. Ultrasound (US) represents a rapid imaging modality that is readily available in the ED and does not involve radiation or contrast agent administration. A new generation of portable, battery-powered, low-cost, hand-carried ultrasound devices have become available recently; these devices can provide immediate diagnostic information in patients presenting with abdominal pain in ED.The aim of the study was to demonstrate the diagnostic usefulness of a bedside pocket-sized ultrasound (BPU) device (Vscan from General Electrics) in non-traumatic patients complaining of acute abdominal pain in a tertiary care university hospital in Italy. Methods: Patients with acute non-traumatic abdominal pain presenting in ED were prospectively enrolled and underwent physical examination, traditional imaging and BPU. Results: A total number of 230 patients with acute non-traumatic abdominal pain were enrolled. Overall agreement between routine standard imaging and BPU turned out to be equal for computed tomography (K=0.3) and traditional ultrasound (K=0.29). Receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) analysis for diagnostic power of the BPU in comparison with traditional US showed an area under the curve of 0.65, sensitivity and specificity of 87.2% and 42.31% respectively. Conclusions: Emergency use of BPU in patients with non-traumatic abdominal pain demonstrated good diagnostic performance when compared to traditional imaging, with the potential advantage of reducing costs and delay in patient final disposition.

scholarly journals Lost diagnoses in not otherwise specified headache in Emergency Department

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Granato ◽  
Laura D’Acunto ◽  
Maria Elisa Morelli ◽  
Giulia Bellavita ◽  
Franco Cominotto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Neurological Diseases ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Final Diagnosis ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Primary Headaches ◽  
Not Otherwise Specified ◽  
Facial Neuralgia ◽  
Precise Diagnosis

Abstract The diagnosis of Not Otherwise Specified (NOS) headaches in the Emergency Department (ED) is frequent despite many specialist visits performed. The aim of the study was to examine specialist visits carried out in the patients discharged from ED with diagnosis of NOS headache to evaluate discrepancies between specialist and ED diagnosis at discharge. We retrospectively (1.6.2018–31.12.2018) analyzed all the patients admitted with non-traumatic headache to the ED of the tertiary-care University Hospital of Trieste. We evaluated the patients discharged from ED with a final diagnosis of NOS headache and who underwent at least one specialist examination. Demographic data, specialist and ED diagnosis were analyzed.  One hundred twenty-four patients (93 F, 31 M, mean age 44 ± 15 years) were included. 71.8% of patients were examined only by a neurologist, 12.9% by non-neurologists, 15.3% by both neurologist and non-neurologist. Only 37% of the patients received a precise diagnosis. Neurologist made a diagnosis slightly more frequently than the other consultants (40.5% vs 37.5%). Neurologists diagnosed primary headaches, headaches secondary to neurological diseases, and facial neuralgia, instead non-neurologists diagnosed only headaches secondary to non-neurological diseases. Primary headaches were diagnosed in 25.7% of cases, migraine being the most frequent. Physicians did not report any specialist diagnoses in the ED discharge sheet. Specialist consultants made specific diagnoses in about one-third of patients that were not reported as final in the discharge records by the ED physician. This leads to a loss of diagnoses and to an overestimation of NOS headache.

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