Evaluation of the Use of Ketamine in Prehospital Seizure Management: A Retrospective Review of the ESO Database.

Objectives: Benzodiazepines are the primary antiseizure medication used by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for seizures. Available literature in the United States and internationally shows 30% to 40% of seizures do not terminate with benzodiazepines called benzodiazepine refractory status epilepticus (BRSE). Ketamine is a potential treatment for BRSE due to its unique pharmacology.

Re: Disparities in Utilization of Autologous Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Treatment of Multiple Myeloma.

Costa et al. recently reported that racial disparities prevented nearly 40% of non-Hispanic blacks with multiple myeloma (MM) from undergoing stem cell transplantation (SCT), but the authors were unable to provide an explanation for the disparities because of limitations of their datasets. They hypothesized that socioeconomic status (SES) and/or insurance providers might account for the disparity.

Socioeconomic status is independently associated with overall survival in patients with multiple myeloma.

Population-based studies suggest that black patients with multiple myeloma (MM) have a higher mortality rate than white patients. However, other studies suggest that this disparity is related to socioeconomic status (SES) rather than race. To provide clarity on this topic, we reviewed 562 patients diagnosed with MM at our institution.