Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America 
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This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.Narrow Complex Tachycardias
Narrow-complex tachycardias are commonly seen on shift in the emergency department. Although a portion of patients present with hemodynamic instability because of arrhythmia, it is important to know that the tachycardia can be a result of an underlying condition. Rapid identification of the type and etiology of the arrhythmia is vital to directing appropriate management strategies and disposition decisions. (Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America)
Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America - October 7, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tareq Al-Salamah, Mohammed AlAgeel, Leen Alblaihed Source Type: research
Acute Coronary Syndrome in Women
Acute coronary syndrome is pathologically distinct in women and requires an appreciation of the specific risk factors, presenting symptoms, laboratory findings, and imaging results to treat correctly. Persistent disparities in mortality between men and women may be the result of failure to recognize and intervene, especially in the case of women aged less than 55 years. Protocols which establish criteria for activating the cardiac catheterization laboratory and which empower emergency department physicians to do so without delay show signs of eliminating disparities, as does guideline-directed therapy at the time of discha...
Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America - October 6, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Robert M. Brown Source Type: research
The Aged Heart
This article provides guidance on the nuances of evaluation and treatment associated with these diseases in the older adult population. (Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America)
Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America - October 6, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Phillip D. Magidson Source Type: research
Hereditary Syndromes of Sudden Cardiac Death
This article wil l review the background, diagnosis, and management of the common hereditary channelopathies and cardiomyopathies associated with an increased risk of SCD in patients without ischemic heart disease. (Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America)
Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America - October 6, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Jeremy Berberian Source Type: research
The Ischemic Electrocardiogram
The electrocardiogram (EKG) is a useful diagnostic tool that allows clinicians to rapidly evaluate patients for acute coronary syndrome. With the high prevalence of heart disease in society, the EKG is crucial in the evaluation of chest pain and diagnosis of ischemia. Various guidelines provide criteria to aid in recognizing ischemia and help dictate patient management. Not all ischemic patterns requiring emergent management present within the classic definition of an STEMI. It is critical for clinicians to be able to accurately recognize these ischemic patterns to allow timely and appropriate cardiovascular care. (Source:...
Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America - October 6, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Daniel L. Kreider Source Type: research
Pacemaker Malfunction –Review of Permanent Pacemakers and Malfunctions Encountered in the Emergency Department
Pacemaker malfunction refers to a failure of the pacemaker to perform the desired cardiac pacemaking function. These malfunctions can occur anywhere within the system from the pulse generator and leads to the electrode –myocardium interface. These failures of sensing, capture, and inadequate pacing can have severe hemodynamic consequences, so rapid identification of specific dysfunction is critical to intervention and stabilization. Emergency providers should be aware of pacemaker components, function, basic pro gramming, and types of malfunctions to adequately assess, stabilize, and disposition patients. (Source: Emerge...
Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America - October 6, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: William Brandon White, Jeremy Berberian Source Type: research
Wide Complex Tachycardias
Wide complex tachycardias (WCT) are frequently encountered in the emergency department. Causes of WCT vary from benign (eg, supraventricular with rate-related aberrancy) to life threatening (eg, atrial fibrillation with WPW, or ventricular tachycardia). It is imperative that emergency physicians are familiar with the clinical presentation, underlying causes, and electrocardiographic features of the different causes of WCT. Treatment of WCT depends on patient stability, regularity of the rhythm, and QRS morphology. When in doubt, monomorphic WCT should be presumed to be ventricular tachycardia and treated as such. (Source: ...
Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America - October 6, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Leen Alblaihed, Tareq Al-Salamah Source Type: research
Cardiovascular Pharmacology
This article reviews the pharmacotherapy involved in the treatment of acute coronary syndromes, acute heart failure, and various arrhythmias. The focus will be to provide practical pearls that can be applied at the bedside in the Emergency Department. (Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America)
Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America - October 6, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Jessica M. Mason, Michael E. O ’Brien, Jennifer L. Koehl, Christine S. Ji, Bryan D. Hayes Source Type: research
Medico-Legal Topics in Emergency Cardiology
The workup and diagnosis of cardiovascular emergencies represent the present and future risk to emergency physicians. Eliciting and documenting key details of a cardiovascular complaint, as well as following established standards for accurate and timely diagnosis of emergencies, is central to the medico-legal aspects of cardiovascular emergencies. Key elements of documentation include history, physical exam, diagnostic workup, and medical decision making. Key elements of medical malpractice include the existence of a legal duty, breach of the legal duty, causation, and presence of damages. All 4 legal elements must be pres...
Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America - October 6, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: John Riggins, Mahesh Polavarapu Source Type: research
Emergency Considerations of Infective Endocarditis
Although still a rare bacterial infection of the endocardium of the heart, the incidence of infective endocarditis continues to increase with the increased use of intracardiac devices, indwelling lines, and surgical procedures being done on patients. The diagnosis of infective endocarditis remains challenging and requires a high level of suspicion to initiate the appropriate investigation and treatment. Serious complications can still occur despite optimal care, so it is helpful that these patients be managed by a team that includes infectious disease, cardiology, and cardiac surgeons. (Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America)
Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America - October 6, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Jobin Philip, Michael C. Bond Source Type: research
High Sensitivity Troponins
High-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) assays are highly specific to cardiac tissue and can detect small amounts of myocardial injury rapidly. Hs-cTn assays are the recommended cardiac biomarkers in the major US and European guidelines. In the appropriate clinical context, these assays allow clinicians to rapidly rule out a non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction and decrease 30-day major adverse cardiac events. This can have significant downstream impacts on the percentage of patients discharged from the emergency department (ED), ED lengths of stay, cardiac testing, and hospitalizations. There are many proposed diagno...
Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America - October 6, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tyler Thomas Hempel, Amy Wyatt Source Type: research
Heart of the Matter
We are excited to share with you this issue of Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America covering cardiovascular emergencies. As with prior issues, choosing the topics was a challenging task. Our goal was to provide the reader with a diverse range of content, including underrepresented topics (ACS in women, cardiovascular considerations for geriatric patients), core content review (pacemaker abnormalities, narrow and wide complex tachydysrhythmias, endocarditis), updated core content (the ischemic ECG, hereditary syndromes of cardiac death, cardiovascular pharmacology, ACS management), and cutting-edge topics (high-sensi...
Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America - October 6, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Jeremy Berberian, Leen Alblaihed Tags: Preface Source Type: research
Cardiovascular Emergencies
Emergency cardiac conditions are very common in the emergency department (ED). That statement should come as no surprise to any practitioner in emergency medicine (EM), but to highlight just how common these conditions are, I ’d like to review the patients I saw during my shift in the ED: during my 8-hour shift, I cared for four patients presenting with chest pain; one patient presenting with acute heart failure; one patient presenting with syncope; one patient presenting with new-onset atrial fibrillation; and one pat ient presenting with concerns pertaining to his ventricular assist device. (Source: Emergency Medicine ...
Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America - September 30, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Amal Mattu Tags: Foreword Source Type: research
Special Procedures for Pulmonary Disease in the Emergency Department
In the emergency department, there are infrequent but essential procedures related to pulmonary diseases that emergency physicians must be able to perform. These include thoracentesis, chest tube thoracostomy, tracheostomy manipulation, and fiberoptic intubation. (Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America)
Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America - August 1, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Brian C. Park, Haney Mallemat Source Type: research
Airways and Breathing in Emergency Medicine
Emergency Medicine physicians are tasked with caring for some of the most critically ill patients who enter the hospital. They must rapidly stabilize and manage patients with septic shock, cardiac arrest, and major trauma. One of the most challenging issues Emergency Physicians face is airway management and respiratory diseases. Inability to manage a patient ’s airway may rapidly lead to death or disability. Respiratory diseases alone or in combination with airway management can also lead to a rapid decline in a patient’s clinical status and worsen outcomes. (Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America)
Source: Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America - August 1, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Haney Mallemat, Terren Trott Tags: Preface Source Type: research
