Subject(s)
American Heart Association , Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation , First Aid , Humans , Red Cross , Syncope , United StatesABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To assess the effect of a dedicated pediatric syncope unit on the diagnostic and therapeutic management of children with suspected syncope. We also evaluated the effectiveness of the pediatric syncope unit model in decreasing unnecessary tests and hospitalizations, minimizing social costs, and improving diagnostic yield. STUDY DESIGN: This single-center cohort observational, prospective study enrolled 2278 consecutive children referred to Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital from 2012 to 2017. Characteristics of the study population, number and type of admission examinations, and diagnostic findings before the pediatric syncope unit was implemented (2012-2013) and after the pediatric syncope unit was implemented (2014-2015 and 2016-2017) were compared. RESULTS: The proportion of undefined syncope, number of unnecessary diagnostic tests performed, and number of hospital stay days decreased significantly (P < .0001), with an overall decrease in costs. A multivariable logistic regression analysis, adjusted for confounding variables (age, sex, number of diagnostic tests), the period after pediatric syncope unit (2016-2017) resulted as the best independent predictor of effectiveness for a defined diagnosis of syncope (P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric syncope unit organization with fast-tracking access more appropriate diagnostic tests is effective in terms of accuracy of diagnostic yield and reduction of costs.
Subject(s)
Diagnostic Techniques, Cardiovascular/economics , Hospital Costs , Hospital Units/economics , Syncope/diagnosis , Adolescent , Child , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Incidence , Italy/epidemiology , Length of Stay/economics , Length of Stay/trends , Male , Prospective Studies , Syncope/economics , Syncope/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Objetivos: los niños y adolescentes con preexcitación ventricular (PV) tienen un mayor riesgo de muerte súbita cardíaca (MSC). Si bien la terapia antiarrítmica y la ablación por catéter son tratamientos temporales o definitivos bien establecidos para los pacientes con síndrome de Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW), aún no hay acuerdo acerca del manejo óptimo de los niños con PV asintomática. Teniendo en cuenta las directrices y recomendaciones más recientes, el objetivo de este estudio fue determinar las características electrofisiológicas de los pacientes jóvenes con PV y síndrome de WPW, con el fin de valorar y comparar su riesgo potencial de MSC. Métodos y resultados: se realizó un estudio retrospectivo de 124 pacientes jóvenes consecutivos con PV (51 con síndrome de WPW y 73 asintomáticos) sometidos a un estudio electrofisiológico transesofágico. En condiciones basales se indujo una taquicardia por reentrada auriculoventricular (TRAV) en 13 pacientes con WPW vs 10 pacientes asintomáticos (25,5% vs 13,7%, p=NS). Se indujo fibrilación auricular (FA) en 13 pacientes con WPW vs 15 pacientes asintomáticos (25,5% vs 20,5%, p=NS). Se encontró un intervalo R-R preexcitado más corto (IRRPEC o SPERRI, por sus siglas en inglés) £ 250 ms durante la FA en cuatro pacientes con WPW vs seis pacientes asintomáticos (30,8% vs 40%, p=NS). Durante la infusión de isoproterenol o la prueba de esfuerzo, se indujo TRAV en 31 de 44 pacientes con WPW vs 33 de 69 pacientes asintomáticos (70,4% vs 47,8%, p=0,018). Se indujo fibrilación auricular en 12 de 44 pacientes con WPW vs 21 de 69 pacientes asintomáticos (27,3% vs 30,4%, p=NS). Se encontró un IRRPEC £ 210 ms en 6 de 12 pacientes con WPW vs 10 de 21 pacientes asintomáticos (50% vs 476%, p=NS). No se observó ninguna correlación estadísticamente significativa entre la ubicación de la vía accesoria y los síntomas, inducibilidad de TRAV/FA, o media de período refractario de la vía accesoria (PREVA)/IRRPEC. Conclusión: los niños y adolescentes con síndrome de WPW tienen una mayor tasa de inducibilidad de TRAV que los pacientes asintomáticos. Sin embargo, no se encontraron diferencias entre los dos grupos en cuanto a la vulnerabilidad auricular y a los parámetros relacionados con el riesgo de MSC.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of the 2009 Italian pediatric clinical guidelines on the management of syncope. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective study of patients who presented to the Emergency Department (ED) of Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital with syncope during the 2 years before and then for 2 years after the establishment of the Italian pediatric clinical guidelines. Implementation of the clinical guidelines included educational seminars, additional training of health care workers, and the availability of clinical guidelines and its algorithms on ED examination rooms. RESULTS: We studied a population of 1073 patients (n = 470 vs n = 603). Most patients had neurocardiogenic syncope with a greater increase in postimplementation period (n = 241, 51.3% vs n = 454, 49.8%); we also noticed a parallel reduction of the number of patients with undefined syncope (30% vs 8.3%). We observed an increase in electrocardiogram (n = 328, 69.8% vs n = 512, 85.1%; P < .001), a reduction in electroencephalogram (n = 54, 11.5% vs n = 25, 4.1%; P < .001), and computed tomography scan/magnetic resonance imaging utilization (n = 26, 5.5% vs n = 8, 1.3%; P < .001). In addition, there was a significant reduction of hospital admission rates (n = 195; 41.5% vs n = 116, 19.2%; P < .001). The time period was significantly associated with improvements in all procedures at the multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Providing practitioners in the ED with age-oriented clinical guidelines increased the efficiency of clinical management of pediatric syncope. Our study demonstrated that the implementation of pediatric clinical guidelines on syncope improve diagnosis, reduce hospital admissions, and decrease the use of unnecessary diagnostic tests.
Subject(s)
Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures/statistics & numerical data , Emergency Service, Hospital/statistics & numerical data , Guideline Adherence/statistics & numerical data , Hospitalization/statistics & numerical data , Practice Guidelines as Topic , Syncope/diagnosis , Adolescent , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant , Italy , Male , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
Propafenone, an antiarrhythmic drug that is effective for treating supraventricular tachycardias, can induce well-known proarrhythmic and systemic adverse effects. We describe a previously unreported adverse effect in 3 newborns: oral propafenone-induced profuse oral secretions and respiratory distress of sufficient severity to necessitate discontinuation of propafenone.