Management of high-risk pulmonary embolism in the emergency department: A narrative review.

BACKGROUND: High-risk pulmonary embolism (PE) is a complex, life-threatening condition, and emergency clinicians must be ready to resuscitate and rapidly pursue primary reperfusion therapy. The first-line reperfusion therapy for patients with high-risk PE is systemic thrombolytics (ST). Despite consensus guidelines, only a fraction of eligible patients receive ST for high-risk PE. OBJECTIVE: This review provides emergency clinicians with a comprehensive overview of the current evidence regarding the management of high-risk PE with an emphasis on ST and other reperfusion therapies to address the gap between practice and guideline recommendations. DISCUSSION: High-risk PE is defined as PE that causes hemodynamic instability. The high mortality rate and dynamic pathophysiology of high-risk PE make it challenging to manage. Initial stabilization of the decompensating patient includes vasopressor administration and supplemental oxygen or high-flow nasal cannula. Primary reperfusion therapy should be pursued for those with high-risk PE, and consensus guidelines recommend the use of ST for high-risk PE based on studies demonstrating benefit. Other options for reperfusion include surgical embolectomy and catheter directed interventions. CONCLUSIONS: Emergency clinicians must possess an understanding of high-risk PE including the clinical assessment, pathophysiology, management of hemodynamic instability and respiratory failure, and primary reperfusion therapies.

Bilateral Emboli and Highest Heart Rate Predict Hospitalization of Emergency Department Patients With Acute, Low-Risk Pulmonary Embolism.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Some patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE) will suffer adverse clinical outcomes despite being low risk by clinical decision rules. Emergency physician decisionmaking processes regarding which low-risk patients require hospitalization are unclear. Higher heart rate (HR) or embolic burden may increase short-term mortality risk, and we hypothesized that these variables would be associated with an increased likelihood of hospitalization for patients designated as low risk by the PE Severity Index. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of 461 adult emergency department (ED) patients with a PE Severity Index score of fewer than 86 points. Primary exposures were the highest observed ED HR, most proximal embolus location (proximal vs distal), and embolism laterality (bilateral vs unilateral PE). The primary outcome was hospitalization. RESULTS: Of 461 patients meeting inclusion criteria, most (57.5%) were hospitalized, 2 patients (0.4%) died within 30 days, and 142 (30.8%) patients were at elevated risk by other criteria (Hestia criteria or biochemical/radiographic right ventricular dysfunction). Variablesassociated with an increased likelihood of admission were highest observed ED HR of ≥110 beats/minute (vs HR <90 beats/min) (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 3.11; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.07 to 9.57), highest ED HR 90 to 109 (aOR 2.03; 95% CI 1.18-3.50) and bilateral PE (aOR 1.92; 95% CI 1.13 to 3.27). Proximal embolus location was not associated with the likelihood of hospitalization (aOR 1.19; 95% CI 0.71 to 2.00). CONCLUSIONS: Most patients were hospitalized, often with recognizable high-risk characteristics not accounted for by the PE Severity Index. Highest ED HR of ≥90 beats/min and bilateral PE were associated with a physician's decision for hospitalization.

Barriers and Facilitators to the Outpatient Management of Low-risk Pulmonary Embolism From the Emergency Department.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Although recommended by professional society guidelines, outpatient management of low-risk pulmonary embolism (PE) from emergency departments (EDs) in the US remains uncommon. The objective of this study was to identify barriers and facilitators to the outpatient management of PE from the ED using implementation science methodology. METHODS: We conducted semistructured interviews with a purposeful sample of emergency physicians using maximum variation sampling, aiming to recruit physicians with diverse practice patterns regarding the management of low-risk PE. We developed an interview guide using the implementation science frameworks-the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and the Theoretical Domains Framework. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed in an iterative process. RESULTS: We interviewed 26 emergency physicians from 11 hospital systems, and the participants were diverse with regard to years in practice, practice setting, and engagement with outpatient management of PE. Although outer setting determinants, such as medicolegal climate, follow-up, and insurance status were universal, our participants revealed that the importance of these determinants were moderated by individual-level and inner setting determinants. Prominent themes included belief in consequences, belief in capabilities, and institutional support and culture. Inertia of clinical practice and complexity of the process were important subthemes. CONCLUSION: In this qualitative study, clinicians reported common barriers and facilitators that initially focused on outer setting and external barriers but centered on clinician beliefs, fear, and local culture. Efforts to increase outpatient treatment of select patients with acute PE should be informed by these barriers and facilitators, which are aligned with the deimplementation theory.

Diagnostic Reclassification by a High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin Assay.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Our objective is to describe the rates of diagnostic reclassification between conventional cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) and between combined and sex-specific hs-cTnT thresholds in adult emergency department (ED) patients in the United States. METHODS: We conducted a prospective, single-center, before-and-after, observational study of ED patients aged 18 years or older undergoing single or serial cardiac troponin testing in the ED for any reason before and after hs-cTnT implementation. Conventional cTnI and hs-cTnT results were obtained from a laboratory quality assurance database. Combined and sex-specific thresholds were the published 99th percentile upper reference limits for each assay. Cases underwent physician adjudication using the Fourth Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction. Diagnostic reclassification occurred when a patient received a diagnosis of myocardial infarction or myocardial injury with one assay but not the other assay. Our primary outcome was diagnostic reclassification between the conventional cTnI and hs-cTnT assays. Diagnostic reclassification probabilities were assessed with sample proportions and 95% confidence intervals for binomial data. RESULTS: We studied 1,016 patients (506 men [50%]; median age 60 years [25th, 75th percentiles 49, 71]). Between the conventional cTnI and hs-cTnT assays, 6 patients (0.6%; 95% confidence interval 0.2% to 1.3%) underwent diagnostic reclassification regarding myocardial infarction (5/6 reclassified as no myocardial infarction) and 166 patients (16%; 95% confidence interval 14% to 19%) underwent diagnostic reclassification regarding myocardial injury (154/166 reclassified as having myocardial injury) by hs-cTnT. CONCLUSION: Compared with conventional cTnI, the hs-cTnT assay resulted in no clinically relevant change in myocardial infarction diagnoses but substantially more myocardial injury diagnoses.

Small-molecule CFTR activators increase tear secretion and prevent experimental dry eye disease.

Dry eye disorders, including Sjögren's syndrome, constitute a common problem in the aging population, with limited effective therapeutic options available. The cAMP-activated Cl(-) channel cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is a major prosecretory channel at the ocular surface. We investigated whether compounds that target CFTR can correct the abnormal tear film in dry eye. Small-molecule activators of human wild-type CFTR identified by high-throughput screening were evaluated in cell culture and in vivo assays, to select compounds that stimulate Cl(-)-driven fluid secretion across the ocular surface in mice. An aminophenyl-1,3,5-triazine, CFTRact-K089, fully activated CFTR in cell cultures with EC50 ∼250 nM and produced an ∼8.5 mV hyperpolarization in ocular surface potential difference. When delivered topically, CFTRact-K089 doubled basal tear volume for 4 h and had no effect in CF mice. CFTRact-K089 showed sustained tear film bioavailability without detectable systemic absorption. In a mouse model of aqueous-deficient dry eye produced by lacrimal ablation, topical administration of 0.1 nmol CFTRact-K089 3 times daily restored tear volume to basal levels, preventing corneal epithelial disruption when initiated at the time of surgery and reversing it when started after development of dry eye. Our results support the potential utility of CFTR-targeted activators as a novel prosecretory treatment for dry eye.-Flores, A. M., Casey, S. D., Felix, C. M., Phuan, P. W., Verkman, A. S., Levin, M. H. Small-molecule CFTR activators increase tear secretion and prevent experimental dry eye disease.

Comparison of Short-Term Health Care Utilization Between Telemedicine-Delivered vs In-Person Care Visits for Heart Failure.

Background: Patients with heart failure (HF) are a medically complex population with frequent hospitalizations. Downstream health care utilization following primary care delivered by telemedicine compared to in-person is unknown. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to understand differences in return in-person visits, emergency department (ED) encounters, and hospitalizations following a telemedicine vs an in-person primary care visit for patients with HF seen for a HF-related complaint. Methods: This was an observational study of all primary care visits for HF from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022, in an integrated health care delivery system. We compared 7-day in-person follow-up visits, ED visits, and hospitalizations (all-cause and HF-specific) by index visit type. Results: We included 3,902 primary care visits with a primary diagnosis of HF. Most visits utilized telephone or video visits (58.4% total; 44.9% telephone, 13.5% video). After adjustment, telephone visits were associated with more in-person follow-up visits (6.14% vs 4.20%; adjusted OR: 1.08-2.21; P < 0.05) but fewer ED visits (6.12% vs 8.07%; adjusted OR: 0.55-0.97; P < 0.05) compared to in-person visits. Most hospitalized patients (74%) had an admitting diagnosis of HF. There was no difference between 7-day all-cause hospitalization following telephone or video visits compared to in-person visits. Conclusions: Most patients used telemedicine to address HF-specific primary care concerns. Telephone visits were associated with slightly higher short-term in-person primary care follow-up but lower ED utilization. Overall, downstream ED visits and hospitalizations were low. Telephone and video visits appear to offer safe alternatives to in-person care for HF-related primary care and are a promising health care delivery strategy.

Addressing the rising trend of high-risk pulmonary embolism mortality: Clinical and research priorities.

BACKGROUND: Deaths from high-risk pulmonary embolism (PE) appear to have increased in the US over the last decade. Modifiable risks contributing to this worrisome trend present opportunities for physicians, researchers, and healthcare policymakers to improve care. METHODS: We sought to contextualize contemporary, high-risk PE epidemiology and examine clinical trials, quality improvement opportunities, and healthcare policy initiatives directed at reducing mortality. RESULTS: We observed significant and modifiable excess mortality due to high-risk PE. We identified several opportunities to improve care including: (1) rapid translation of forthcoming data on reperfusion strategies into clinical practice; (2) improved risk stratification tools; (3) quality improvement initiatives to address presumptive anticoagulation practice gaps; and (3) adoption of health policy initiatives to establish pulmonary embolism response teams and address the social determinants of health. CONCLUSION: Addressing knowledge and practice gaps in intermediate and high-risk PE management must be prioritized and informed by forthcoming high-quality data. Implementation efforts are needed to improve acute PE management and resolve treatment disparities.

Physicians' Perceptions of Clinical Decision Support to Treat Patients With Heart Failure in the ED.

Importance: Clinical decision support (CDS) could help emergency department (ED) physicians treat patients with heart failure (HF) by estimating risk, collating relevant history, and assisting with medication prescribing if physicians' perspectives inform its design and implementation. Objective: To evaluate CDS usability and workflow integration in the hands of ED physician end users who use it in clinical practice. Design, Setting, and Participants: This mixed-methods qualitative study administered semistructured interviews to ED physicians from 2 community EDs of Kaiser Permanente Northern California in 2023. The interview guide, based on the Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design and the Sociotechnical Environment models, yielded themes used to construct an electronic survey instrument sent to all ED physicians. Main Outcomes and Measures: Main outcomes were physicians' perceptions of using CDS to complement clinical decision-making, usability, and integration into ED clinical workflow. Results: Seven key informant physicians (5 [71.4%] female, median [IQR] 15.0 [9.5-15.0] years in practice) were interviewed and survey responses from 51 physicians (23 [45.1%] female, median [IQR] 14.0 [9.5-17.0] years in practice) were received from EDs piloting the CDS intervention. Response rate was 67.1% (51 of 76). Physicians suggested changes to CDS accessibility, functionality, and workflow integration. Most agreed that CDS would improve patient care and fewer than half of physicians expressed hesitation about their capacity to consistently comply with its recommendations, citing workload concerns. Physicians preferred a passive prompt that encouraged, but did not mandate, interaction with the CDS. Conclusions and Relevance: In this qualitative study of physicians who were using a novel CDS intervention to assist with ED management of patients with acute HF, several opportunities were identified to improve usability as well as several key barriers and facilitators to CDS implementation.

Sustainability of a Clinical Decision Support Intervention for Outpatient Care for Emergency Department Patients With Acute Pulmonary Embolism.

Importance: Physicians commonly hospitalize patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with acute pulmonary embolism (PE), despite eligibility for safe outpatient management. Risk stratification using electronic health record-embedded clinical decision support systems can aid physician site-of-care decision-making and increase safe outpatient management. The long-term sustainability of early improvements after the cessation of trial-based, champion-led promotion is uncertain. Objective: To evaluate the sustainability of recommended site-of-care decision-making support 4 years after initial physician champion-led interventions to increase outpatient management for patients with acute PE. Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective cohort study was conducted in 21 US community hospitals in an integrated health system. Participants included adult patients presenting to the ED with acute PE. Study sites had participated in an original decision-support intervention trial 4 years prior to the current study period: 10 sites were intervention sites, 11 sites were controls. In that trial, decision support with champion promotion resulted in significantly higher outpatient management at intervention sites compared with controls. After trial completion, all study sites were given continued access to a modified decision-support tool without further champion-led outreach. Data were analyzed from January 2019 to February 2020. Exposures: ED treatment with a modified clinical decision support tool. Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was frequency of outpatient management, defined as discharge home directly from the ED, stratified by the PE Severity Index. The safety measure of outpatient care was 7-day PE-related hospitalization. Results: This study included 1039 patients, including 533 (51.3%) women, with a median (IQR) age of 65 (52-74) years. Nearly half (474 patients [45.6%]) were rated lower risk on the PE Severity Index. Overall, 278 patients (26.8%) were treated as outpatients, with only four 7-day PE-related hospitalizations (1.4%; 95% CI, 0.4%-3.6%). The practice gap in outpatient management created by the earlier trial persisted in the outpatient management for patients with lower risk: 109 of 236 patients (46.2%) at former intervention sites vs 81 of 238 patients (34.0%) at former control sites (difference, 12.2; [95% CI, 3.4-20.9] percentage points; P = .007), with wide interfacility variation (range, 7.1%-47.1%). Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study, a champion-led, decision-support intervention to increase outpatient management for patients presenting to the ED with acute pulmonary embolism was associated with sustained higher rates of outpatient management 4 years later. The application of our findings to improving sustainability of practice change for other clinical conditions warrants further study.

Clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients evaluated in the emergency department: A retrospective cohort study of 801 cases.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has extracted devastating tolls. Despite its pervasiveness, robust information on disease characteristics in the emergency department (ED) and how that information predicts clinical course remain limited. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of the first ED visit from SARS-CoV-2-positive patients in our health system, from February 21, 2020 to April 5, 2020. We reviewed each patient's ED visit(s) and included the first visit with symptoms consistent with COVID-19. We collected demographic, clinical, and treatment variables from electronic health records and structured manual chart review. We used multivariable logistic regression to examine the association between patient characteristics and 2 primary outcomes: a critical outcome and hospitalization from index visit. Our critical outcome was defined as death or advanced respiratory support (high flow nasal cannula or greater) within 21 days. RESULTS: Of the first 1030 encounters, 801 met our inclusion criteria: 15% were over age 75 years, 47% were female, and 24% were non-Hispanic white. We found 161 (20%) had a critical outcome and 393 (49%) were hospitalized. Independent predictors of a critical outcome included a history of hypertension, abnormal chest x-ray, elevated neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, elevated blood urea nitrogen (BUN), measured fever, and abnormal respiratory vital signs (respiratory rate, oxygen saturation). Independent predictors of hospitalization included abnormal pulmonary auscultation, elevated BUN, measured fever, and abnormal respiratory vital signs. CONCLUSIONS: In this large, diverse study of ED patients with COVID-19, we have identified numerous clinical characteristics that have independent associations with critical illness and hospitalization.

Sex, race, and insurance status differences in hospital treatment and outcomes following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

BACKGROUND: Sex, race, and insurance status are associated with treatment and outcomes in several cardiovascular diseases. These disparities, however, have not been well-studied in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to evaluate the association of patient sex, race, and insurance status with hospital treatments and outcomes following OHCA. METHODS: We studied adult patients in the 2011-2015 California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) Patient Discharge Database with a "present on admission" diagnosis of cardiac arrest (ICD-9-CM 427.5). Insurance status was classified as private, Medicare, and Medi-Cal/government/self-pay. Our primary outcome was good neurologic recovery at hospital discharge, which was determined by discharge disposition. Secondary outcomes were survival to hospital discharge, treatment at a 24/7 percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) center, "do not resuscitate" orders within 24 h of admission, and cardiac catheterization during hospitalization. Data were analyzed with hierarchical multiple logistic regression models. RESULTS: We studied 38,163 patients in the OSHPD database. Female sex, non-white race, and Medicare insurance status were independently associated with worse neurologic recovery [OR 0.94 (0.89-0.98), 0.93 (0.88-0.98), and 0.85 (0.79-0.91), respectively], lower rates of treatment at a 24/7 PCI center [OR 0.89 (0.85-0.93), 0.88 (0.85-0.93), and 0.87 (0.82-0.94), respectively], and lower rates of cardiac catheterization [OR 0.61 (0.57-0.65), 0.90 (0.84-0.97), and 0.44 (0.40-0.48), respectively]. Female sex, white race, and Medicare insurance were associated with DNR orders within 24 h of admission [OR 1.16 (1.10-1.23), 1.14 (1.07-1.21), and 1.25 (1.15-1.36), respectively]. CONCLUSIONS: Sex, race, and insurance status were independently associated with post-arrest care interventions, patient outcomes and treatment at a 24/7 PCI center. More studies are needed to fully understand the causes and implications of these disparities.

Emergency Department Pain Management Following Implementation of a Geriatric Hip Fracture Program.

INTRODUCTION: Over 300,000 patients in the United States sustain low-trauma fragility hip fractures annually. Multidisciplinary geriatric fracture programs (GFP) including early, multimodal pain management reduce morbidity and mortality. Our overall goal was to determine the effects of a GFP on the emergency department (ED) pain management of geriatric fragility hip fractures. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study including patients age ≥65 years with fragility hip fractures two years before and two years after the implementation of the GFP. Outcomes were time to (any) first analgesic, use of acetaminophen and fascia iliaca compartment block (FICB) in the ED, and amount of opioid medication administered in the first 24 hours. We used permutation tests to evaluate differences in ED pain management following GFP implementation. RESULTS: We studied 131 patients in the pre-GFP period and 177 patients in the post-GFP period. In the post-GFP period, more patients received FICB (6% vs. 60%; difference 54%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 45-63%; p<0.001) and acetaminophen (10% vs. 51%; difference 41%, 95% CI 32-51%; p<0.001) in the ED. Patients in the post-GFP period also had a shorter time to first analgesic (103 vs. 93 minutes; p=0.04) and received fewer morphine equivalents in the first 24 hours (15mg vs. 10mg, p<0.001) than patients in the pre-GFP period. CONCLUSION: Implementation of a GFP was associated with improved ED pain management for geriatric patients with fragility hip fractures. Future studies should evaluate the effects of these changes in pain management on longer-term outcomes.