A hypokalemic muscular weakness after licorice ingestion: a case report

A 21-year-old male presented to the emergency department with the complaint of muscle weakness. The patient had used a powderized over-the-counter product named 'Tekumut' for 2 weeks to quit smoking. The granulated product was studied and determined to contain 'licorice' containing glycyrrhizic acid

Cardiac Monitoring in Patients with Electrocution Injury

BACKGROUND The necessity of admitting patients exposed to electrocution injuries for monitoring and observation in the emergency department (ED) remains controversial. METHODS We evaluated the medical records of 102 patients (86 male, 16 female; median age 29.5; range 18 to 68 years) admitted to the adult ED with electrocution injuries over the past 20 years. RESULTS Only 9 deaths were reported: 3 as a result of contact with low-voltage electricity and 6 after contact with high-voltage electricity. With the exception of a case of sepsis, all deaths were related to early rhythm abnormalities immediately following the incident. The ECG findings of surviving patients in the study group were as follows: 70 normal, 8 sinus tachycardia, 3 sinus bradycardia, 4 ST-T wave changes, and 1 ventricular extrasystole. ECG recordings of 7 patients could not be found. 72 cases had been followed up with repeat ECG recordings. There were no observed ECG changes requiring any medical or electrical therapies in the surviving patients. CONCLUSION Cardiac rhythm abnormalities related to electrocution injuries are usually observed at the time of the incident. If the patient's overall clinical condition is good and they have a normal ECG at the time of admission to the ED, the probability of observing any delayed serious dysrhythmia is unlikely.WoSScopu

Emergency Admissions Due To Swallowed Foreign Bodies In Adults

AIM: To study a retrospective analysis of patients who presented to the emergency departments (ED) with complaints related to foreign body ingestions. METHODS: Patients older than 16 years of age who presented to the ED between January 1st and December 31st of 2010 with complaints related to swallowed foreign bodies were identified from electronic health records and patient charts. RESULTS: A total of 100 patients presented with a complaint of foreign body ingestion during the study period. Overall, an X-ray was performed on 75 patients, and a fiberoptic evaluation was performed on 45 patients. A foreign body was detected in 46 (46%) patients. The diagnostic yield of the X-ray was 27 (36%) out of 75 patients, while the diagnostic yield of the fiberoptic evaluations was 21 (47%) out of 45 patients. The detected foreign bodies were mostly located in the esophagus (17 out of 46 foreign bodies detected). When the types of ingested foreign bodies were evaluated, 52 (52%) patients reported ingesting food, and 19 (19%) patients reported swallowing pins. An X-ray was performed on 33 patients with accidental food ingestions but yielded a positive result in only two cases. In 12 out of 21 patients with accidental food ingestion who underwent fiberoptic evaluation, the foreign material was detected and removed. CONCLUSION: Plain radiography is helpful in the localization of radiopaque swollen foreign bodies, while fiberoptic methods are useful as both diagnostic and therapeutic tools, regardless of radiopacity. (C) 2013 Baishideng. All rights reserved

Acil Servise Başvuran Kalp Yetersizliği Hastalarında BNP Düzeyleri ve Ekokardiyografik Parametrelerin İlişkisi

Objective: Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a peptide, which has recently been used in the differential diagnosis and follow-up of patients with heart failure. Our aim in the present prospective and diagnostic designed study is to investigate the role of BNP in determining the etiology of dyspnea and to evaluate its relation with newer echocardiographic parameters. Methods: Thirty-four patients presenting to the emergency department with dyspnea and fulfilling the Framingham criteria for heart failure were included in the study. Blood samples were obtained in the first hour of presentation for measurement of BNP levels from all patients. Detailed transthoracic two-dimensional, Doppler and tissue Doppler echocardiographic studies were then performed within 24 hours of presentation. Statistical analyses were performed using Student's t-test for independent samples, Mann Whitney U test and Pearson or Spearman correlation tests. Results: Plasma BNP levels were found to be significantly correlated with left ventricular end-systolic and end-diastolic diameter, left atrial diameter and the degree of mitral insufficiency (r=0.46, p=0.007; r=0.39, p=0.02; r=0.32, p=0.065; r=0.50, p=0.014, respectively). A significant inverse correlation was observed between plasma BNP levels and left ventricular ejection fraction (r=-0.5, p=0.003). When the patients were grouped according to their BNP levels, the mean ejection fraction of the group with BNP levels below median (578 pg/l) was 60.65 +/- 13.84%, whereas the mean ejection fraction of the group with BNP levels of 578 pg/l or above (BNP 2) was 49.41 +/- 15.26% (p=0.027). Out of parameters reflecting left ventricular diastolic functions, only transmitral Epeak/Apeak ratio was found to be significantly associated with BNP levels (r=0.4, p=0.05). Tissue Doppler study revealed significant correlations between BNP levels and right ventricular basal and midsystolic velocities (r=-0.507, p=0.008; r=-0.562, p=0.005, respectively) while none of the left ventricular tissue velocities displayed significant correlation with BNP values. Conclusion: Plasma BNP levels are found to be significantly associated with conventional echocardiographic parameters reflecting left ventricular systolic and diastolic functions and tissue Doppler velocities reflecting right ventricular functions. Our findings are in agreement with the notion that plasma BNP levels are beneficial in the differential diagnosis of patients admitted to emergency service with acute dyspnea. (Anadolu Kardiyol Berg 2010; 10: 143-9

NEDOCS: is it really useful for detecting emergency department overcrowding today?

The Emergency Department (ED) overcrowding is an ongoing problem all over the world. The scoring systems are available for the detection of this problem. This study aims to test the applicability of the National Emergency Department Overcrowding Study (NEDOCS) scoring system, one of the scoring systems that evaluate the ED overcrowding. In this prospective observational study, the survey was applied on on-duty doctors, nurses, paramedics, intern doctors, and ward persons working in a University Adult Emergency Department and agreed to participate in the study, between certain hours during the day and the NEDOCS score was calculated simultaneously. The demographic characteristics of the on-duty staff, overcrowding of ED, and the number of the on-duty staff members were recorded in the questionnaires. During the study, 153 measurements were performed, and 3221 questionnaires were filled. The NEDOCS mean score was determined as 101.59 and the most reached result was extremely busy but not overcrowded (32%). The ED was rated mostly as busy (33.7%) by the on-duty staff. A significant difference was found between ED overcrowding and NEDOCS score. There is a significant difference between ED overcrowding and on-duty emergency nurse and intern doctor count. The NEDOCS score is not suitable for evaluating ED overcrowding. Accurate determination of the ED overcrowding is very important to avoid the negative consequences of the ED overcrowding. Increasing emergency nurse and intern doctor count will decrease ED overcrowding. Also, there is an urgent need to constitute local hospitals and also public health policies to satisfy the increasingly ED's presentations.WOS:0005575114000092-s2.0-85088052251PubMed: 3266405

Aşırı Kalabalık Aciller İçin Şikayet Temelli Bir Model: Beş-Düzeyli Hacettepe Acil Triyaj Sistemi

BACKGROUND To compare ESI Five-Level Triage System with 5-Level Hacettepe Emergency Triage System (HETS), which was developed for Overcrowded EDs in our country. METHODS Over a period of six days, patients were assessed by a different ED staff everyday using HETS, then re-evaluated blindly by an emergency. physician using HETS. Then patients were evaluated blindly for a third time by an independent, ESI-using emergency physician. RESULTS Of the patients in the study, 133 were men, 175 were women and the average age was 44.41 +/- 18.033. Inter-rater agreement was 97.40% (Kappa=0.963) between HETS and HETS-Blind, 74.35% (Kappa=0.646) between HETS and ESI-Blind, 74.67% (Kappa=0.652) between HETS-Blind and ESI-Blind. Inter-observer agreement between the second emergency physician performing HETS-Blind and the first emergency physician, resident, or nurse was very good (Kappa=1.0). Intern doctor, non-medical secretary and paramedic were found to have almost very good agreement (Kappa=0.971; 0.935; 0.864, respectively). An overtriage of 7.25% and undertriage of 1.08% were found in HETS. CONCLUSION Complaint-based HEST developed for overcrowded EDs is a triage system with a very good agreement between observations and observers, low undertriage and overtriage ratios, and easy application by all staff from a non-medical secretary to the emergency physician.WoSScopu

Hyponatremic Encephalopathy After Excessive Water Ingestion Prior To Pelvic Ultrasound: Neuroimaging Findings

We report two patients with acute hyponatremic encephalopathy which developed after massive water ingestion for pelvic ultrasound and emphasize the findings of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging including diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). Both subjects had completely recovered within 24 hours following fluid restriction and salt replacement. MR imaging revealed cortical sulcal narrowing, restricted diffusion and sulcal T2 hyperintensity along with diffuse pial enhancement suggesting diffuse cerebral cortical cytotoxic edema and blood-brain barrier breakdown. In addition to the first illustration of multimodality MR imaging features of water-intoxication, these two cases also highlight the need for standardized practice on the quantity of water intake recommended to distend the bladder for pelvic ultrasound, especially in patients at risk for serum inappropriate ADH syndrome-related hyponatremia.WoSScopu