Preventability of serious thromboembolic and bleeding events related to the use of oral anticoagulants: a prospective study.

Aims: To determine the preventability of serious adverse drug reactions (ADRs) related to the use of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), and to explore contributing factors to preventable ADRs. Results were compared with vitamin K antagonists (VKAs).

Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study in the emergency departments of two teaching hospitals from July 2015 to January 2016.

Seeks, finds, threats: Lyme disease!

Lyme borreliosis is a disease commonly found in humans. Here we report the case of a young, healthy girl presenting with symptomatic first- and second-degree atrioventricular blocks secondary to cardiac myocarditis. The disappearance of the conduction anomaly after antibiotic treatment confirmed Lyme disease before the results from the serology.

Does offering pricing information to resident physicians in the emergency department potentially reduce laboratory and radiology costs?

Objectives: The aim of this study was to establish whether price list information could reduce laboratory and radiological examination costs in emergency departments (EDs).

Materials And Methods: A prospective survey of adult (>16 years old) admissions was conducted at the ED of a university hospital in Belgium. Nine resident emergency physicians were followed for a span of 6 months, which was divided into 2-month periods: control (October and November 2011), intervention (December 2011 to January 2012), and washout (February and March 2012).

Syncope secondary to obesity?

The frequency of obesity is increasing worldwide. The relationship between obesity and mortality is known. Bariatric surgery is well established in the treatment of morbid obesity to reduce weight permanently.

A special ventricular arrhythmia!

Alcohol is the most widely tolerated and consumed drug worldwide. Alcohol consumption is associated with both good and bad cardiovascular effects. The link between drinking alcohol and heart disease, or arrhythmia, in healthy individuals or with existing heart disease has been well demonstrated.

Assessing clinical reasoning using a script concordance test with electrocardiogram in an emergency medicine clerkship rotation.

Objectives: Script concordance tests (SCTs) can be used to assess clinical reasoning, especially in situations of uncertainty, by comparing the responses of examinees with those of emergency physicians. The examinee's answers are scored based on the level of agreement with responses provided by a panel of experts. Emergency physicians are frequently uncertain in the interpretation of ECGs.

The different mechanisms of periprocedural myocardial infarction and their impact on in-hospital outcome.

Background: CK-MB levels exceeding 3 times the upper limit of normal (ULN) following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), defining periprocedural myocardial infarction (PMI), are associated with worse outcomes. This study assessed the incidence and mechanisms of PMI and their impact on in-hospital stay.

Methods And Results: Over a 12-year period (1996-2007), 272 cases of PMI (overall incidence, 3.