Emergency Medicine Alert articles from October 2002

Emergency Medicine Alert archives from October 2002

B-type natriuretic peptide useful marker in diagnosing CHF. (Abstract & Commentary).(congestive heart failure)
October 1, 2002... Source: Maisel AS, et al. Rapid measurement of B-type natriuretic peptide in the emergency diagnosis of heart failure. N Engl J Med 2002;347:161-167. ACUTE CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE (CHF) OFTEN IS DIFFICULT to differentiate from other...

Effectiveness of OTC cough medications doubtful, at best. (Abstract & Commentary).
October 1, 2002... Source: Schroeder K, et al. Systematic review of randomised controlled trials of over-the-counter cough medicine for acute cough in adults. BMJ 2002;324:329-331. THIS COCHRANE SYSTEMATIC REVIEW EXAMINED ALL randomized controlled trials...

New technology provides rapid laboratory turnaround. (Abstract & Commentary).(portable clinical analyzer )
October 1, 2002... Source: Mainor BH, et al. Evaluation of a portable clinical analyzer in the pediatric emergency department: Analysis of cost and turnaround time. South Med J 2002;95:634-638. RECENT ADVANCES IN POINT-OF-CARE TESTING HAVE own promise in...

Thrombolytic therapy for pulmonary embolism. (Special Feature).
October 1, 2002... MOST RELEVANT TO THE EMERGENCY CARE OF patients with pulmonary embolism (PE) is rapid diagnosis with risk stratification and initiation of appropriate therapy, with the goals of reducing mortality and improving clinical outcome. Despite...

Physician CME questions.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... 28. In the study by Maisel et al, B-type natriuretic peptide levels were the highest in patients with: a. left ventricular dysfunction and non-cardiac dyspnea. b. NYHA class IV heart failure. c. acute myocardial infarction. d....

Digoxin use in this 81-year-old man?(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Clinical Scenario: The ECG shown in the Figure was obtained from an 81-year-old man who presented with heart failure and pneumonia. Digoxin was among his many medications. Why do you suppose he was on digoxin? [FIGURE OMITTED] ...