A Case Report of Renal Infarcts Secondary to Segmental Arterial Mediolysis.

Flank pain is an exceptionally common presenting symptom in the emergency and primary care setting; however, most clinicians may not include a differential diagnosis of renal infarct (RI) due to the reported low incidence of this condition. Delayed diagnosis or treatment intervention for RI can have dire consequences for the patient including hypertension and longstanding renal impairment. In this report, we review a case of a previously healthy 39-year-old male presenting with flank pain, which after extensive workup, was revealed to be caused by renal infarction from a renal artery dissection secondary to segmental arterial mediolysis (SAM).

Risk Prediction Models for Hospital Mortality in General Medical Patients: A Systematic Review.

Objective: To systematically review contemporary prediction models for hospital mortality developed or validated in general medical patients. Methods: We screened articles in five databases, from January 1, 2010, through April 7, 2022, and the bibliography of articles selected for final inclusion. We assessed the quality for risk of bias and applicability using the Prediction Model Risk of Bias Assessment Tool (PROBAST) and extracted data using the Critical Appraisal and Data Extraction for Systematic Reviews of Prediction Modelling Studies (CHARMS) checklist. Two investigators independently screened each article, assessed quality, and extracted data. Results: From 20,424 unique articles, we identified 15 models in 8 studies across 10 countries. The studies included 280,793 general medical patients and 19,923 hospital deaths. Models included 7 early warning scores, 2 comorbidities indices, and 6 combination models. Ten models were studied in all general medical patients (general models) and 7 in general medical patients with infection (infection models). Of the 15 models, 13 were developed using logistic or Poisson regression and 2 using machine learning methods. Also, 4 of 15 models reported on handling of missing values. None of the infection models had high discrimination, whereas 4 of 10 general models had high discrimination (area under curve >0.8). Only 1 model appropriately assessed calibration. All models had high risk of bias; 4 of 10 general models and 5 of 7 infection models had low concern for applicability for general medical patients. Conclusion: Mortality prediction models for general medical patients were sparse and differed in quality, applicability, and discrimination. These models require hospital-level validation and/or recalibration in general medical patients to guide mortality reduction interventions.

Older adults on involuntary hold status in the emergency department.

BACKGROUND: As the United States' population ages, the health care system will experience overall change. This study aims to identify factors in the older adult that may contribute to involuntary hold status in the ED. METHODS: This study is a retrospective review conducted at a suburban acute-care hospital ED of adult patients evaluated while on involuntary hold from January 1, 2014, through November 30, 2015. Older adults (patients born on or before 06/31/1964) were compared to younger adults (born on or after 07/01/1964) according to demographic and clinical variables including medical comorbidity, ED length of stay, reason for involuntary hold, psychiatric disorder, suicide attempt, substance use disorder, serum alcohol level, urine drug testing, medical comorbidity, violence in the ED, 30-day ED readmission, and 30-day mortality. RESULTS: Of 251 patients, 90 (35.9%) were older adults. The most common reason for involuntary hold in both cohorts was suicidal ideation. Medical comorbidities were more prevalent in older adults [60 (66.7%) vs. 64 (39.8%), P ≤.0001]. Older adults were less likely to report current drug abuse [31 (34.4%) vs. 77 (47.8%), P = .04]. The most commonly misused substance in both groups was alcohol; however, despite similar rates, blood alcohol levels (BAC) and urine drug screen (UDS) were performed less often in older adults. Cohorts were not significantly different with respect to sex, race, violence in the ED, psychiatric diagnosis, and ED LOS. CONCLUSIONS: Involuntary older adult patients present with medical comorbidities that impact mental health. In the ED, they are less likely report substance use, and drug screening may be underutilized. Medical needs make their care unique and may present challenges in transfer of care to inpatient psychiatric facilities.