Ultra-low dose computed tomography of the chest in an emergency setting: A prospective agreement study.

Ultra-low dose computed tomography (ULD-CT) assessed by non-radiologists in a medical Emergency Department (ED) has not been examined in previous studies. To (i) investigate intragroup agreement among attending physicians caring for ED patients (i.e., radiologists, senior- and junior clinicians) and medical students for the detection of acute lung conditions on ULD-CT and supine chest X-ray (sCXR), and (ii) evaluate the accuracy of interpretation compared to the reference standard. In this prospective study, non-traumatic patients presenting to the ED, who received an sCXR were included. Between February and July 2019, 91 patients who underwent 93 consecutive examinations were enrolled. Subsequently, a ULD-CT and non-contrast CT were performed. The ULD-CT and sCXR were assessed by 3 radiologists, 3 senior clinicians, 3 junior clinicians, and 3 medical students for pneumonia, pneumothorax, pleural effusion, and pulmonary edema. The non-contrast CT, assessed by a chest radiologist, was used as the reference standard. The results of the assessments were compared within each group (intragroup agreement) and with the reference standard (accuracy) using kappa statistics. Accuracy and intragroup agreement improved for pneumothorax on ULD-CT compared with the sCXR for all groups. Accuracy and intragroup agreement improved for pneumonia on ULD-CT when assessed by radiologists and for pleural effusion when assessed by medical students. In patients with acute lung conditions ULD-CT offers improvement in the detection of pneumonia by radiologists and the detection of pneumothorax by radiologists as well as non-radiologists compared to sCXR. Therefore, ULD-CT may be considered as an alternative first-line imaging modality to sCXR for non-traumatic patients who present to EDs.

Are 5-level triage systems improved by using a symptom based approach?-a Danish cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Five-level triage systems are being utilized in Danish emergency departments with and without the use of presenting symptoms. The aim of this study was to validate and compare two 5-level triage systems used in Danish emergency departments: "Danish Emergency Process Triage" (DEPT) based on a combination of vital signs and presenting symptoms and a locally adapted version of DEPT (VITAL-TRIAGE) using vital signs only. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort using data from five Danish emergency departments. All patients attending an emergency department during the period of 1 April 2012 until 31 December 2015 were included. Validity of the two triage systems was assessed by comparing urgency categories determined by each triage system with critical outcomes: admission to Intensive care unit (ICU) within 24 h, 2-day mortality, diagnosis of critical illness, surgery within 48 h, discharge within 4 h and length of hospital stay. RESULTS: We included 632,196 ED contacts. Sensitivity for 24-h ICU admission was 0.79 (95% confidence interval 0.78-0.80) for DEPT and 0.44 (0.41-0.47) for VITAL-TRIAGE. The sensitivity for 2-day mortality was 0.69 (0.67-0.70) for DEPT and 0.37 (0.34-0.41) for VITAL-TRIAGE. The sensitivity to detect diagnoses of critical illness was 0.48 (0.47-0.50) for DEPT and 0.09 (0.08-0.10) for VITAL-TRIAGE. The sensitivity for predicting surgery within 48 h was 0.30 (0.30-0.31) in DEPT and 0.04 (0.04-0.04) in VITAL-TRIAGE. Length of stay was longer in VITAL-TRIAGE than DEPT. The sensitivity of DEPT to predict patients discharged within 4 h was 0.91 (0.91-0.92) while VITAL-TRIAGE was higher at 0.99 (0.99-0.99). The odds ratio for 24-h ICU admission and 2-day mortality was increased in high-urgency categories of both triage systems compared to low-urgency categories. CONCLUSIONS: High urgency categories in both triage systems are correlated with adverse outcomes. The inclusion of presenting symptoms in a modern 5-level triage system led to significantly higher sensitivity measures for the ability to predict outcomes related to patient urgency. DEPT achieves equal prognostic performance as other widespread 5-level triage systems.

Use of Infrared Thermography in Diagnosing Necrotizing Fasciitis in the Emergency Department: A Case Study.

OBJECTIVE: Necrotizing fasciitis is a difficult diagnosis with a very high mortality. However, thermal imaging has the potential to identify increasing skin temperature and rapid progression. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used repeat photographs taken with a thermal camera to visualize changes in skin temperature over time. RESULTS: An unstable male patient presented at the emergency department. Thermal imaging showed increased skin temperature of his left foot with a rapid increase and progression in extent within 1 hour. Necrotizing fasciitis was suspected and later confirmed. CONCLUSIONS: We believe thermal imaging could be an important adjunct for the diagnosis of suspected necrotizing fasciitis. LEARNING POINTS: Necrotizing fasciitis is a difficult diagnosis to make.Thermal imaging can visualize skin temperature and thus show increased temperature and extent.Rapid identification of necrotizing fasciitis is vital for patient survival.

Poor maintenance of sinus rhythm after electrical cardioversion of patients with atrial fibrillation or flutter: a 5-year follow-up of 268 consecutive patients.

OBJECTIVE: To report long-term results of direct current (DC)-cardioversion in unselected patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) or flutter. DESIGN: The study was a retrospective 5-year follow-up of all patients undergoing DC-cardioversion for AF or flutter at our institution between 1993 and 1997. RESULTS: Three hundred and eighty-five DC-cardioversions were performed in 268 patients. Two hundred and forty-nine patients underwent cardioversion for the first time. Of these, 183 (74%) were converted to sinus rhythm. During the first month of follow-up 105 (57%) relapsed into AF. Only 33 patients (13%) of the 249 patients scheduled for cardioversion remained in sinus rhythm after 1 year. In multivariate analysis arrhythmia duration was the only variable that was associated with successful cardioversion. Periprocedural complications occurred in 9.9% of the cardioversions. CONCLUSION: In daily routine only a minority of patients will maintain sinus rhythm after DC-cardioversion for AF or flutter. Also, DC-cardioversion is not without risk. These observational data suggest a conservative approach to re-establishment of sinus rhythm in patients with AF.