A Randomized Control Trial Using a Validated Prediction Model for Diagnosing Acute Heart Failure in Undifferentiated Dyspneic Emergency Department Patients-Results of the GASP4Ar Study.

BACKGROUND: Diagnosing acute heart failure (AHF) in undifferentiated dyspneic emergency department (ED) patients can be challenging. We prospectively studied a validated diagnostic prediction model for AHF that uses patient age, clinician pretest probability for AHF, and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) as a continuous value to determine its utility and performance. METHODS AND RESULTS: This was a multicenter randomized controlled trial of undifferentiated dyspneic patients with an indeterminate pretest probability of AHF as assessed by the treating emergency physician (EP). After recording its components, the calculated model results with validated treatment threshold guidelines were provided to EPs for patients randomized to the intervention arm. Final diagnoses with the use of 60-day follow-up information were adjudicated by 2 independent cardiologists. The primary outcomes were accuracy of the model and of physician diagnosis comparing intervention and standard care arms. A total of 197 patients were randomized and had outcome data recorded; 41% were determined to have had heart failure. Final EP diagnostic accuracy was 76% (sensitivity 68.2%, specificity 83.9%) with no significant difference between exposed versus blinded arms (accuracy 77% vs 74%; P = .77). Area under the model receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.93. Using the model treatment thresholds would have redirected 48% of patients with 95% accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: This study prospectively validated the diagnostic accuracy of our AHF model in a significant proportion of indeterminate dyspneic ED patients, but provision of this information did not improveEP diagnostic accuracy. Future studies should determine how such a clinical prediction tool could be effectively integrated into routine practice and improve early management of suspected AHF patients in the ED.

Orf in humans: dramatic but benign.

Orf is a parapoxvirus infection of sheep and goats that causes blistering lesions on the lips, nostrils, udders or toes of affected animals. Human contact can cause transmission by direct inoculation. Human orf has typically been confined to rural settings. A case is presented of an immigrant African inner-city housewife who contracted the disease after preparing a sheep's head for a meal. The lesions resolved completely after 1 month without treatment. Although relatively rare and benign, this infection is probably under-reported and over-treated in this country. This case highlights the fact that urban physicians can expect to encounter once rare or solely rural-based infections with increasing frequency.

The 2012 Canadian Cardiovascular Society heart failure management guidelines update: focus on acute and chronic heart failure.

The 2012 Canadian Cardiovascular Society Heart Failure (HF) Guidelines Update provides management recommendations for acute and chronic HF. In 2006, the Canadian Cardiovascular Society HF Guidelines committee first published an overview of HF management. Since then, significant additions to and changes in many of these recommendations have become apparent. With this in mind and in response to stakeholder feedback, the Guidelines Committee in 2012 has updated the overview of both acute and chronic heart failure diagnosis and management. The 2012 Update also includes recommendations, values and preferences, and practical tips to assist the medical practitioner manage their patients with HF.

Seizures induced by recreational abuse of bupropion tablets via nasal insufflation.

Bupropion is a newer generation antidepressant that is commonly used for treatment of depression and for smoking cessation. Seizures are a frequently reported adverse effect of bupropion in therapeutic oral doses; however, there are limited data about the consequences of nasal insufflation of bupropion. We report the case of a patient who presented to the emergency department (ED) with a recent history of generalized tonic-clonic seizures whose etiology was initially a diagnostic mystery. After an initial visit to another ED, the patient presented to our ED later that day with a recurrence of the seizures after crushing and nasally insufflating oral bupropion tablets. We review important implications of this case to emergency medicine, including the potential for abuse of bupropion, the difference between intranasal and oral administration, the changing trends in the etiology of drug related seizures and the importance of examining the nares in patients with unexplained seizure and delirium.

Improving the diagnosis of acute heart failure using a validated prediction model.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to derive and validate a prediction model by using N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and clinical variables to improve the diagnosis of acute heart failure (AHF). BACKGROUND: The optimal way of using natriuretic peptides to enhance the diagnosis of AHF remains uncertain. METHODS: Physician estimates of probability of AHF in 500 patients treated in the emergency department from the multicenter IMPROVE CHF (Improved Management of Patients With Congestive Heart Failure) trial recruited between December 2004 and December 2005 were classified into low (0% to 20%), intermediate (21% to 79%), or high (80% to 100%) probability for AHF and then compared with the blinded adjudicated AHF diagnosis. Likelihood ratios were calculated and multiple logistic regression incorporated covariates into an AHF prediction model that was validated internally by the use of bootstrapping and externally by applying the model to another 573 patients from the separate PRIDE (N-Terminal Pro-BNP Investigation of Dyspnea in the Emergency Department) study of the use of NT-proBNP in patients with dyspnea. RESULTS: Likelihood ratios for AHF with NT-proBNP were 0.11 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.06 to 0.19) for cut-point values <300 pg/ml; increasing to 3.43 (95% CI: 2.34 to 5.03) for values 2,700 to 8,099 pg/ml, and 12.80 (95% CI: 5.21 to 31.45) for values > or =8,100 pg/ml. Variables used to predict AHF were age, pre-test probability, and log NT-proBNP. When applied to the external data by use of its adjudicated final diagnosis as the gold standard, the model appropriately reclassified 44% of patients by intermediate clinical probability to either low or high probability of AHF with negligible (<2%) inappropriate redirection. CONCLUSIONS: A diagnostic prediction model for AHF that incorporates both clinical assessment and NT-proBNP has been derived and validated and has excellent diagnostic accuracy, especially in cases with indeterminate likelihood for AHF.