Ultrasonographic Applications in the Thorax

Author(s):  
Mehmet Zeki Gunluoglu ◽  
Tugrul Ormeci ◽  
Selva Sen

Abstract: Rapid developments and increasing technological knowledge have changed perspectives on ultrasonography. Previously, ultrasonography was used to evaluate chest wall pathologies, to distinguish between pleural effusion and consolidation, to evacuate pleural effusion, or to evaluate diaphragm movement. Today, it is also used in a wide range of pleural and parenchymal diseases. Ultrasonography is not just used in the emergency department and the intensive care units. It is also utilized in many clinical branches dealing with the respiratory system—due to its ease of use, fast access, price advantage, non-radiation exposure, higher diagnostic sensitivity, and specificity in many clinical situations—and has become a part of the examination. In this review, we have assessed not just transthoracic ultrasonography but also more focal and targeted sonographic applications, such as the endobronchial ultrasound and esophageal ultrasound.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hwayeon Danielle Shin ◽  
Christine Cassidy ◽  
Janet Curran ◽  
Lori Weeks ◽  
Leslie Anne Campbell ◽  
...  

Objective: This review aims to explore, characterize, and map the literature on interventions implemented to change emergency department (ED) clinicians’ behaviour related to suicide prevention using the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) as a guiding theoretical framework. Introduction: An ED is a critical place for suicide prevention. Yet, many patients who present with suicide-related thoughts and behaviours are discharged without proper assessment or appropriate treatment. Supporting clinicians (who provide direct clinical care, including nurses, physicians, allied health professionals) to make the desired behaviour change following evidence-based suicide prevention care is an essential step toward improving patient outcomes. However, reviews to date have yet to take a theoretical approach to investigate interventions implemented to change clinicians’ behaviour. Inclusion criteria: This review will consider literature that includes interventions that target ED clinicians’ behaviour change related to suicide prevention. Behaviour change refers to observable practice changes as well as proxy measures of behaviour change including knowledge and attitude. There are many ways in which an intervention can change clinicians’ behaviour (e.g., education, altering service delivery). This review will include a wide range of interventions that target behaviour change regardless of the type but exclude interventions that exclusively target patients.Methods: Multiple databases will be searched: PubMed, PsycInfo, CINAHL and Embase. We will also include grey literature, including Google search, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global, and Scopus conference papers. Full text of included studies will be reviewed, critically appraised and extracted. Extracted data will be coded to identify intervention functions using the BCW. Findings will be summarized in tables accompanied by narrative reports.


Author(s):  
O. Y. Balalaieva ◽  

The purpose of the article is to study the dynamics of electronic dictionaries development abroad and in Ukraine using methods of analysis of scientific sources, comparison, generalization and systematization. Electronic dictionaries have been found to be a relatively new phenomenon in the lexicographic market, evolving from machine-readable dictionaries, exact copies of paper editions to complex digital lexicographic systems with a powerful arsenal of functions over the decades. The stages of development of autonomous and online dictionaries are described. Electronic dictionaries due to the advanced search capabilities, speed, simplicity, ease of use, accessibility and compactness have gained popularity among a wide range of users. Today they are used in many spheres of human activity – scientific, educational, professional, everyday communication. However, the analysis of the current level of development of Ukrainian electronic resources indicates a shortage of electronic dictionaries both common and terminological vocabulary. The lack of electronic dictionaries is due to a number of objective problems, both practical and theoretical, that is why research in the field of domestic computer lexicography is a promising area of further research.


Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 431
Author(s):  
Chun-Fu Lin ◽  
Yi-Syun Huang ◽  
Ming-Ta Tsai ◽  
Kuan-Han Wu ◽  
Chien-Fu Lin ◽  
...  

Background: Intensive care unit (ICU) admission following a short-term emergency department (ED) revisit has been considered a particularly undesirable outcome among return-visit patients, although their in-hospital prognosis has not been discussed. We aimed to compare clinical outcomes between adult patients admitted to the ICU after unscheduled ED revisits and those admitted during index ED visits. Method: This retrospective study was conducted at two tertiary medical centers in Taiwan from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2017. All adult non-trauma patients admitted to the ICU directly via the ED during the study period were included and divided into two comparison groups: patients admitted to the ICU during index ED visits and those admitted to the ICU during return ED visits. The outcomes of interest included in-hospital mortality, mechanical ventilation (MV) support, profound shock, hospital length of stay (HLOS), and total medical cost. Results: Altogether, 12,075 patients with a mean (standard deviation) age of 64.6 (15.7) years were included. Among these, 5.3% were admitted to the ICU following a return ED visit within 14 days and 3.1% were admitted following a return ED visit within 7 days. After adjusting for confounding factors for multivariate regression analysis, ICU admission following an ED revisit within 14 days was not associated with an increased mortality rate (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 1.08, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.89 to 1.32), MV support (aOR: 1.06, 95% CI: 0.89 to 1.26), profound shock (aOR: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.84 to 1.18), prolonged HLOS (difference: 0.04 days, 95% CI: −1.02 to 1.09), and increased total medical cost (difference: USD 361, 95% CI: −303 to 1025). Similar results were observed after the regression analysis in patients that had a 7-day return visit. Conclusion: ICU admission following a return ED visit was not associated with major in-hospital outcomes including mortality, MV support, shock, increased HLOS, or medical cost. Although ICU admissions following ED revisits are considered serious adverse events, they may not indicate poor prognosis in ED practice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Manzo-Silberman ◽  
T Chouihed ◽  
L Fraticelli ◽  
A Peiretti ◽  
C Claustre ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrythmia, especially in older adults. AF represents 1% of emergency department (ED) visits a third of which are de novo or recurrent. While the diagnosis is given quickly by reading the electrocardiogram (ECG), its management both remains complex. European guidelines have been published in 2016. Purpose Our study aimed to investigate guidelines implementation in French ED. Methods Prospective national multicenter study (clinical trials NCT 03836339) and core interpretation of ECG. Consecutive patients admitted in 32 French ED for AF confirmed by ECG were prospectively included. Clinical characteristics at admission were recorded by the physician. The 3-months telephone follow-up was ensured by one operator. Results From 1/10/2018 to 30/11/2018, 1369 patients with AF were included, of whom 295 (21.55%) had a de novo AF. Patients were 80 [65; 87] years old, 51.17% of men, 71.53% self-ruling, 91.53% living at home, 65.42% transported by firemen or by ambulances and 4,07% by a mobile intensive care unit. Twenty-six (8.84%) patients had a history of stroke or transient ischemic stroke and none of them on anticoagulants. CHA2DS2-VASC score was performed in 66.78% of patients and was 0 in 14 (7.11%) patients. HAS-BLED score = 2 [1; 3]. At admission 50.17% of patients received anticoagulants, of whom 49.32% a non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant, 0.68% Vitamin K antagonists, 50.68% UFH or LMWH. Beta-blockers were administered in 102 (24.01%) patients and amiodarone in 38 (12.89%). Cardiac echography has been performed in 20.34% of patients. Atrial fibrillation was the primary diagnosis in 42.71% of patients. It has been associated to a pneumopathy in 25.17% of patients, a pulmonary embolism in 4.76% and acute alcoholism in 1.36% of them. Precipitating factor was often undetermined. The discharge to the home concerned 18.64% of patients, 26.78% of patients were hospitalized in ED hospitalization unit, 23.05% in cardiology or intensive care unit. At 3 months, 49% of patients were on anticoagulants, of whom 90% on non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants, 95% of them didn't report any bleeding event and 41.77% of them were able to have a cardiology consultation within three months. Three-months mortality was about 22.09%, and rehospitalization rate about 22.89%. Conclusion It seems to be a reticence to initiate anticoagulation of patients admitted to ED with a de novo AF. It could be explained by both the advanced age of the patients and the lack of an organized access to a systematic cardiology consultation at discharge. Patients with chronic AF are subject to high mortality at 3 months and a significant risk of readmission. The application of the guidelines could be optimized by a better training program and the implementation of a dedicated pathway of care. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: Private company. Main funding source(s): Bayer


Author(s):  
Elena Belloni ◽  
Stefania Tentoni ◽  
Ilaria Fiorina ◽  
Chandra Bortolotto ◽  
Olivia Bottinelli ◽  
...  

PURPOSE: To retrospectively evaluate the prevalence of reported and unreported potentially important incidental findings in consecutive nonenhanced abdominal CTs performed specifically for renal colic in the urgent setting. METHOD: One radiologist, blinded to the finalized report, retrospectively re-evaluated nonenhanced abdominal CTs performed from January through December 2017 on adult patients from the Emergency Department with the specific request of urgent evaluation for renal colic, searching for potentially important incidental findings. RESULTS: The CTs of 312 patients were included in the study. Thirty-eight findings were reported in 38 different CTs, whereas the re-evaluation added 47 unreported findings in 47 different CTs, adding to total of 85 findings (27%). The difference in the proportion of reported and unreported potentially important incidental findings between the original report and re-evaluation was significant (P<.001). No significant difference was found between the age of patients with and without reported findings. The proportion of potentially important findings did not vary significantly among the three shifts neither in the original report nor in the re-evaluation. The most frequent findings, both reported and unreported, were pleural effusion, lymphadenopaties and liver nodules. CONCLUSIONS: Potentially important additional findings are frequently present in urgent nonenhanced abdominal CTs performed for renal colic, and many are not described in the finalized reports. Radiologists should take care not to under report potentially important incidental findings even in the urgent setting because of the possible consequences on the patient’s health status and in order to avoid legal issues, while satisfying the need for timely and efficient reporting.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eyal Klang ◽  
Benjamin R. Kummer ◽  
Neha S. Dangayach ◽  
Amy Zhong ◽  
M. Arash Kia ◽  
...  

AbstractEarly admission to the neurosciences intensive care unit (NSICU) is associated with improved patient outcomes. Natural language processing offers new possibilities for mining free text in electronic health record data. We sought to develop a machine learning model using both tabular and free text data to identify patients requiring NSICU admission shortly after arrival to the emergency department (ED). We conducted a single-center, retrospective cohort study of adult patients at the Mount Sinai Hospital, an academic medical center in New York City. All patients presenting to our institutional ED between January 2014 and December 2018 were included. Structured (tabular) demographic, clinical, bed movement record data, and free text data from triage notes were extracted from our institutional data warehouse. A machine learning model was trained to predict likelihood of NSICU admission at 30 min from arrival to the ED. We identified 412,858 patients presenting to the ED over the study period, of whom 1900 (0.5%) were admitted to the NSICU. The daily median number of ED presentations was 231 (IQR 200–256) and the median time from ED presentation to the decision for NSICU admission was 169 min (IQR 80–324). A model trained only with text data had an area under the receiver-operating curve (AUC) of 0.90 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.87–0.91). A structured data-only model had an AUC of 0.92 (95% CI 0.91–0.94). A combined model trained on structured and text data had an AUC of 0.93 (95% CI 0.92–0.95). At a false positive rate of 1:100 (99% specificity), the combined model was 58% sensitive for identifying NSICU admission. A machine learning model using structured and free text data can predict NSICU admission soon after ED arrival. This may potentially improve ED and NSICU resource allocation. Further studies should validate our findings.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew R. Moore ◽  
Jonasel Roque ◽  
Brian T. Shaller ◽  
Tola Asuni ◽  
Melissa Remmel ◽  
...  

AbstractSeveral clinical calculators predict intensive care unit (ICU) mortality, however these are cumbersome and often require 24 h of data to calculate. Retrospective studies have demonstrated the utility of whole blood transcriptomic analysis in predicting mortality. In this study, we tested prospective validation of an 11-gene messenger RNA (mRNA) score in an ICU population. Whole blood mRNA from 70 subjects in the Stanford ICU Biobank with samples collected within 24 h of Emergency Department presentation were used to calculate an 11-gene mRNA score. We found that the 11-gene score was highly associated with 60-day mortality, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.68 in all patients, 0.77 in shock patients, and 0.98 in patients whose primary determinant of prognosis was acute illness. Subjects with the highest quartile of mRNA scores were more likely to die in hospital (40% vs 7%, p < 0.01) and within 60 days (40% vs 15%, p = 0.06). The 11-gene score improved prognostication with a categorical Net Reclassification Improvement index of 0.37 (p = 0.03) and an Integrated Discrimination Improvement index of 0.07 (p = 0.02) when combined with Simplified Acute Physiology Score 3 or Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score. The test performed poorly in the 95 independent samples collected > 24 h after emergency department presentation. Tests will target a 30-min turnaround time, allowing for rapid results early in admission. Moving forward, this test may provide valuable real-time prognostic information to improve triage decisions and allow for enrichment of clinical trials.


2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S172-S173
Author(s):  
Lauren B Nosanov ◽  
Kaitlyn Libraro ◽  
Jamie Heffernan ◽  
Philip H Chang ◽  
Abraham Houng ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction An institutional Burn Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Rounding Tool was implemented for both quality improvement data collection and trainee education. Forms are completed by trainee team members daily for all critically ill patients prior to teaching rounds. Gathered data are structured to facilitate evaluation of patient volume status, sepsis risk and ventilator management. The forms are then used to guide discussion among students, residents, mid-level providers, fellows, attending surgeons and other members of the multi-disciplinary rounding team. We conducted a series of interviews with trainees regarding their user experience to assess the tool’s educational utility. Methods A convenience sample of residents who had recently completed their Burn Surgery rotation were interviewed in a structured format. Questions focused on the form’s ease of use and comprehensibility. Emphasis was placed on the extent to which it stimulates learning while rounding. Additional feedback was sought for the purpose of improving the tool for continued use. Results Participants were post-graduate year one or two resident physicians training in General Surgery, Urology, Emergency Medicine or Anesthesia. Prior experience and comfort with ICU level care ranged from very little to moderate. All interviewees found the tool helpful in their patient assessments, though the current layout of the form was a frustration for many. Overall, they unanimously found the forms beneficial for preparation of patient presentations and felt that utilization during rounds facilitated learning. Conclusions Interviews with trainees on their burn surgery rotation demonstrate that implementation of an ICU Rounding Tool has provided educational benefit, particularly for those less experienced in intensive care. Feedback from this cohort will be used to improve the tool’s usability. Our next steps will include a more formal survey of all trainees involved since the inception of this project.


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