Objective: This study examines the factors associated with persistent, multi-year, and frequent emergency department (ED) use among children and young adults.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective secondary analysis using the 2012-2017 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Emergency Department Databases for children and young adults aged 0-19 who visited any ED in Florida, Massachusetts, and New York. We estimated the association between persistent frequent ED use and individuals' characteristics using multivariable logistic regression models.
Background: Despite favorable recommendations, national lung screening adoption remains low (2% to 3%). Patients living in rural areas have additional challenges, including access to lung screening programs. We initiated a mobile lung screening program to serve the rural patients at risk.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Utilizing our standardized approach to air leak reduction (STAR) protocol has led to a continual decrease in the need for inpatient recovery after lobectomy. Although next-day discharges do occur, the current literature, to our knowledge, has not addressed their safety. We analyzed our STAR data set to study this group and their outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVanishing lung syndrome is a clinical presentation of giant bullous emphysema associated with significant morbidity and mortality. We present a case of a 50-year-old white woman with vanishing lung syndrome who presented with a spontaneous secondary pneumothorax and an uncontrolled bronchopleural fistula. The large bronchopleural fistula was initially controlled with a double-lumen endotracheal tube and a tube thoracostomy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report a case of a posterior mediastinal mature cystic teratoma with rupture secondary to blunt chest trauma in a 20-year-old male involved in a motor-vehicle accident. Initial treatment was guided by Advanced Trauma Life Support and a tube thoracostomy was performed for presumed hemothorax. The heterogeneous collection within the thoracic cavity was discovered to be the result of a ruptured cystic mass.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAbdominal pain is a common complaint that leads to pediatric patients seeking emergency care. The emergency care provider has the arduous task of determining which child likely has a benign cause and not missing the devastating condition that needs emergent attention. This article reviews common benign causes of abdominal pain as well as some of the cannot-miss emergent causes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Prolonged air leaks after pulmonary resection lead to patient discomfort, increased hospital length of stay, greater health care costs, and increased morbidity. A standardized approach to air leak reduction (STAR) after lung resection was developed and studied.
Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of a prospective database from 1 surgeon who had adopted STAR as standard of care.
eHealth is characterized by technology-enabled processes, systems, and applications that expedite accurate, real-time health information, feedback, and skill development to advance patient-centered care. When designed and applied in a culturally competent manner, eHealth tools can be particularly beneficial for traditionally marginalized ethnic minority groups, such as Latinos, a group that has been identified as being at the forefront of emerging technology use in the United States. In this analytic overview, we describe current eHealth research that has been conducted with Latino patient populations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Purpose: The role of SK(Ca) and IK(Ca) channels in myogenic tone and endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) responsiveness was investigated under control conditions and after ischemia and reperfusion in parenchymal arterioles (PA) versus middle cerebral arteries (MCA).
Methods: MCA and PA were dissected from male Wistar rats that were ischemic for 1 hour with 24 hours of reperfusion (n=12) or sham controls (n=12). Basal tone and reactivity to apamin (300 nmol/L), TRAM-34 (1.
Previous studies have shown that pregnancy prevents hypertensive remodeling of cerebral arteries. In the present study, we sought to determine whether pregnancy could reverse preexisting remodeling. Nonpregnant virgin Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with the NO synthase inhibitor nitro-l-arginine (0.
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