First EDition: News for and about the practice of emergency medicine
New CPR Guide Sets Compression Limits, Scratches Vasopressin; Complex Picture Emerges of Prescription Opioid Abuse; US Injury Costs Topped $671 Billion in 2013; Peramivir Effective Against Most Flu Viruses Circulating Globally; Parasitic Infection Emerging in the Southwestern United States; Europeans Adopt 1-Hour ED Chest Pain Triage
“No previous Onchocerca parasites are known to have tropism for the central nervous system,” Dr Smith said. “In addition, five of the six cases presented in children. It is not clear whether children are disproportionately affected by this disease, or whether they are diagnosed more frequently.”
Treatment included surgical excision and antiparasitic treatment for most cases. To date, all patients have remained asymptomatic following treatment. Dr Smith said that more information about Onchocerca lupi will become available as additional cases are described. “Continued epidemiologic investigation will help define the life cycle of this organism, describe the spectrum of human disease, develop approaches to diagnosis and management, and design prevention strategies,” she said.
IDWeek marks the combined annual meetings of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, the HIV Medicine Association, and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. The researchers reported having no financial disclosures.
Europeans Adopt 1-Hour ED Chest Pain Triage
By Bruce Jancin
At the ESC Congress 2015
LONDON – The positive findings of the Biomarkers in Acute Cardiovascular Care (BACC) study1 reinforce a key change contained in the brand-new European Society of Cardiology guidelines for management of patients with acute coronary syndrome without ST-segment elevation: namely, that it’s appropriate to assess such patients using two measurements of a validated high-sensitivity cardiac troponin assay taken just 1 hour apart, according to Dr Kurt Huber.
The BACC results are the evidence-based icing on the cake in support of the new recommendation in the guidelines, released at the annual congress of the European Society of Cardiology. The BACC study, which included 1,045 patients who presented to a university ED with acute chest pain suggestive of an acute coronary syndrome without ST-segment elevation, was the latest of several studies to show that most such patients can either be safely sent home from the ED or ruled-in for acute MI in just 1 hour when evaluated using a high-sensitivity troponin assay backed by a validated patient-management algorithm. The result means reduced pressure on overcrowded EDs and less patient anxiety because of delayed diagnosis, Dr Huber, director of cardiology and emergency medicine at Wilhelminen Hospital in Vienna, observed during an interview at the meeting.
The BACC study, presented by Dr Dirk Westermann of the University Heart Center Hamburg (Germany), utilized a high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I assay. The 1-hour algorithm had a 99.7% negative predictive value for acute MI. A total of 53% of patients were ruled out or in for MI at the 1-hour mark; the rest required further evaluation.2
To view the video, search “Huber” at https://www.emed-journal.com/
