Consider acute retroviral syndrome like endocarditis or meningitis or epidural abscess: another life threatening cause of a seemingly benign febrile illness that we must recognize. HIV infection, especially in its primary phase, represents a life threatening malady that could have serious implications on the patient and the public health at large if not diagnosed.
Myocarditis in the ED
Myocarditis is an inflammatory change of the heart muscle and an important differential diagnosis for patients presenting with non-specific symptoms such as low grade fever, fatigue, malaise, dyspnea on exertion, palpitations, and/or chest pain in the ED.
Color Coded Clarity
The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) has been attempting to reduce errors in ophthalmic drops since the mid-90’s with the advocacy of a uniform color coded system for topical ocular medications. This standardized color system would then theoretically help patients and providers identify medications correctly and reduce errors both inpatient and outpatient.
Journal Club: Immediate Discharge Home of Newly Diagnosed VTE
Clinical Question: Can low-risk patients with a newly diagnosed VTE in the ED be safely discharged home?
Beta Blocker Toxicity
Beta-blockers are the fifth most commonly prescribed medication in US and are frequently involved in potentially fatal single or multi-drug ingestions. Cardiovascular drugs as a whole are the 2nd most common culprit of adult death from all overdoses.
The Silent Killer: A life-threatening diagnosis missed by 7 out of 8 ED physicians
Inter-personal violence (IPV) is a life-threatening diagnosis missed by 7 out of 8 ED physicians. This short discourse on IPV can help you to be more prepared to both diagnose and treat a patient whom you may be concerned is experiencing this silent killer.
Risk Analysis of Pulmonary Embolism by CT Imaging
In CT imaging for acute pulmonary embolism, what can we infer from a radiologist’s comments about the right heart in terms of risk stratification and management?
Journal Club: Ketamine Versus Morphine for Pain Control
Ketamine has recently gained popularity amongst emergency physicians, and discussions about its efficacy and safety continue to shape practice in emergency medicine. Specifically in this post we will look at a recent article regarding sub-dissociative Ketamine for acute pain management in the emergency department.
The Achy Breaky Heart
In 1990, only two years before singer Billy Ray Cyrus revealed his cardiac myocytes to be “achy breaky”, Japanese scientists first described a pathophysiologic mechanism for a common condition which has, for centuries, plagued philosophers and poets, cardiologists and lyricists alike: the broken heart.
The Rash Worth A Midnight Phone Call
It is not often that we have to call our dermatology colleagues in the middle of the night. Here we present a rash worthy of a midnight phone call filled with both core content and clinical pearls.
The Utility of D-Dimer in Non-Traumatic Aortic Dissection
Acute aortic dissection is a potentially catastrophic cardiovascular disease, and is a somewhat rare but exceedingly important diagnosis to make. A low-risk, cost-efficient diagnostic test with the ability to reliably exclude this disease would be useful. Is the D-dimer that test?
Purple Urine Bag Syndrome
A not so typical presentation of a common disease process.
Pulmonary Embolism In Pregnancy
Diagnosing a pulmonary embolism in a pregnant patient is a situation that requires clinicians to employ a high index of suspicion. The presentation is complicated by the fact that symptoms commonly associated with PE in the non-pregnant population can be caused by normal physiologic changes of pregnancy.
A Camel Through the Eye of a Needle (or A Tube Through the Nose of a Sick Patient)
When the mouth is off limits, nasal intubation can be a valuable technique for gaining an emergency airway.
- Dr. Rich Levitan
Button Battery Ingestion
According to Poison Control, about 3,300 button battery ingestions occur each year in the United States, with about two thirds of those cases occurring in patients younger than 6 years old.