Emergency Medicine Alert articles from June 2003

Emergency Medicine Alert archives from June 2003

Unwelcome import: SARS arrives in U.S. emergency departments. (Abstract & Commentary).
June 1, 2003... AS OF APRIL 23, 2003, A TOTAL OF 4288 CASES OF SEVERE ACUTE respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 25 countries had been reported to the World Health Organization. Internationally, there had been 251 deaths, yielding a case-fatality rate of 6%. In the...

EMS response time may dictate choice of CPR or defibrillation in the field. (Abstract & Commentary).(emergency medical services)
June 1, 2003... EARLY DEFIBRILLATION HAS BEEN SHOWN TO MARKEDLY improve survival rates for patients who suffer sudden cardiac arrest from ventricular fibrillation (VF) and pulseless ventricular tachycardia (VT). As a result, immediate defibrillation has been...

Continued complications plague tPA in stroke. (Abstract & Commentary).(tissue plasminogen activator)
June 1, 2003... THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS and Stroke rt-PA (NINDS) study demonstrated that tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) therapy for acute ischemic stroke can be given safely and effectively. (1) Over the last several years, only a...

The Brugada syndrome. (Special Feature).
June 1, 2003... Introduction The Brugada syndrome is a recently described cardiac disorder involving patients with structurally normal hearts who lack coronary artery disease and experience ventricular dysrhythmias. (1-3) These patients present with...

Physician CME questions.(continuing medical education )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... A patient who has traveled to a SARS-endemic area would be suspected of having SARS if which of the following were present? a. Pulmonary infiltrates without a fever b. Cough and fever c. Severe pharyngitis and fever d....

'Scoopies' on ECG.(ST abnormalities)
June 1, 2003... Clinical Scenario: The ECG in the Figure was obtained from an older man on multiple medications. The patient was known to have longstanding cardiopulmonary disease and chronic renal failure, and he presented to the emergency department for an...