Articles Tagged With: Diagnostics
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How Many Abnormal Findings?
No history was available for the tracing in the figure. There are at least seven ECG findings to note. How many can you identify?
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Is Screening First-Degree Relatives of Cardiomyopathy Patients Worthwhile?
An observational study of screening first-degree relatives of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy revealed 14% will show either dilated left ventricles, low left ventricular function, or both. These findings are more common if the relatives have been diagnosed with hypertension or are obese, but their frequency is not altered by sex or race.
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Early Missed Sepsis Diagnosis Leads to $2 Million Award for Patient
This case highlights the importance of screening patients properly and the compounding risks for nurses, physicians, and hospitals that can result when staff miss a screening.
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Delays in Acute Stroke Treatment Contribute to Malpractice Claims
Recent research findings underscore the importance of always considering stroke in the differential diagnosis of altered mental status, even when the patient does not arrive by EMS.
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A Hidden Rhythm
The only clinical information available for this tracing is that the ECG was obtained from an older woman. Without any other background, where should we go from here?
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CDC: Be Wary of Travelers From African Outbreaks
Marburg virus has caused outbreaks in two African nations, and healthcare workers should be aware of travel history for incoming patients with classic hemorrhagic fever symptoms.
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Researchers Use Advanced Technology to Detect MIS-C
Scientists want to improve diagnostic techniques for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, which became a confounding problem during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Neurologists Try to Predict Cognitive Impairment Earlier
Researchers used easy memory tests among healthy participants to determine who might be more likely to need closer monitoring.
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Med/Mal Claims Focus on Decision Aid Findings from ECGs, Radiology Tests
If the radiologist does not address computer findings directly, the ED clinician is left to make assumptions about what the radiologist has found significant or insignificant. If radiologists are not routinely addressing computer findings, emergency providers will spend resources attempting to sift through reports and images, trying to rule in or out what the computer has found. Radiologists should acknowledge computer findings, and comment on why or why not the finding is accurate and significant to the patient’s care.
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Did EP Decide Not to Follow Recommendation of Computer Decision Aid?
The medical record should demonstrate the clinician saw the recommendation, thought about it, and decided what to do. The clinician still may be wrong. But now, it is more of a judgment error than simple carelessness.