Intentional Toxic Ingestion of Sodium Fluoride: A Case Report.

Sodium fluoride is an accessible and frequently used compound that if ingested can cause ventricular dysrhythmias, hemorrhage, and death. We present a case report of a 21-year-old female who presented following an intentional ingestion of a lethal dose of sodium fluoride, developing massive hemorrhage and cardiac arrest.

Evaluation of a new nonnvasive device in determining hemoglobin levels in emergency department patients.

Introduction: The Masimo Radical-7 Pulse CO-Oximeter is a medical device recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration that performs noninvasive oximetry and estimated venous or arterial hemoglobin measurements. A portable, noninvasive device that rapidly measures hemoglobin concentration could be useful in both austere and modern hospital settings. The objective of this study is to determine the degree of variation between the device's estimated hemoglobin measurement and the actual venous hemoglobin concentration in undifferentiated emergency department (ED) patients.

Endometriosis presenting with hemorrhagic ascites, severe anemia, and shock.

Hemorrhagic ascites due to endometriosis is an exceedingly uncommon diagnosis rarely reported in the medical literature. We present a case of a 27-year-old woman who presented to the emergency department for flank and neck pain and was found to be hypotensive with massive hemorrhagic ascites and severe anemia. After emergency department resuscitation and hospitalization, her condition was found to be due to complications of endometriosis.

Overwhelming post-splenectomy infection (OPSI): a case report and review of the literature.

Background: Overwhelming post-splenectomy infection (OPSI) is a serious disease that can progress from a mild flu-like illness to fulminant sepsis in a short time period. Although relatively rare, it has a high mortality rate with delayed or inadequate treatment, and therefore, it is important for Emergency Physicians to be familiar with it. Patients who are asplenic or hyposplenic are at an increased risk for infection and death from encapsulated organisms and other dangerous pathogens.

Bilateral psoas abscess in the emergency department.

We present the case of a 45-year-old female who presented multiple times to the emergency department with acute low back pain and was subsequently diagnosed with bilateral psoas muscle abscess. Psoas abscess is an uncommon cause of acute low back pain that is associated with high morbidity and mortality. The onset of symptoms is frequently insidious and the clinical presentation vague.