Appropriate use of blood cultures in the emergency department through machine learning (ABC): study protocol for a randomised controlled non-inferiority trial.

Introduction: The liberal use of blood cultures in emergency departments (EDs) leads to low yields and high numbers of false-positive results. False-positive, contaminated cultures are associated with prolonged hospital stays, increased antibiotic usage and even higher hospital mortality rates. This trial aims to investigate whether a recently developed and validated machine learning model for predicting blood culture outcomes can safely and effectively guide clinicians in withholding unnecessary blood culture analysis.

Sex differences in pain catastrophizing and its relation to the transition from acute pain to chronic pain.

Background And Importance: Differences exist between sexes in pain and pain-related outcomes, such as development of chronic pain. Previous studies suggested a higher risk for pain chronification in female patients. Furthermore, pain catastrophizing is an important risk factor for chronification of pain.

The effect of a clock's presence on trauma resuscitation times in a Dutch level-1 trauma center: a pre-post cohort analysis.

Purpose: Interventions performed within the first hour after trauma increase survival rates. Literature showed that measuring times can optimize the trauma resuscitation process as time awareness potentially reduces acute care time. This study examined the effect of a digital clock placement on trauma resuscitation times in an academic level-1 trauma center.

Merging of two level-1 trauma centers in Amsterdam: premerger demand in integrated acute trauma care.

Purpose: Availability of adequate and appropriate trauma care is essential. A merger of two Dutch academic level-1 trauma centers is upcoming. However, in the literature, volume effects after a merger are inconclusive.

Optimal use of procalcitonin to rule out bacteremia in patients with possible viral infections.

Objective: During the winter, many patients present with suspected infection that could be a viral or a bacterial (co)infection. The aim of this study is to investigate whether the optimal use of procalcitonin (PCT) is different in patients with and without proven viral infections for the purpose of excluding bacteremia. We hypothesize that when a viral infection is confirmed, this lowers the probability of bacteremia and, therefore, influences the appropriate cutoff of procalcitonin.

Comparing lung ultrasound: extensive versus short in COVID-19 (CLUES): a multicentre, observational study at the emergency department.

Background: Bedside lung ultrasound (LUS) is an affordable diagnostic tool that could contribute to identifying COVID-19 pneumonia. Different LUS protocols are currently used at the emergency department (ED) and there is a need to know their diagnostic accuracy.

Design: A multicentre, prospective, observational study, to compare the diagnostic accuracy of three commonly used LUS protocols in identifying COVID-19 pneumonia at the ED.

Routine screening for pulmonary embolism in COVID-19 patients at the emergency department: impact of D-dimer testing followed by CTPA.

COVID-19 patients have increased risk of pulmonary embolism (PE), but symptoms of both conditions overlap. Because screening algorithms for PE in COVID-19 patients are currently lacking, PE might be underdiagnosed. We evaluated a screening algorithm in which all patients presenting to the ED with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 routinely undergo D-dimer testing, followed by CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) if D-dimer is ≥ 1.

Assessing COVID-19 pneumonia-Clinical extension and risk with point-of-care ultrasound: A multicenter, prospective, observational study.

Background: Assessing the extent of lung involvement is important for the triage and care of COVID-19 pneumonia. We sought to determine the utility of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) for characterizing lung involvement and, thereby, clinical risk determination in COVID-19 pneumonia.

Methods: This multicenter, prospective, observational study included patients with COVID-19 who received 12-zone lung ultrasound and chest computed tomography (CT) scanning in the emergency department (ED).

Diagnosing COVID-19 pneumonia in a pandemic setting: Lung Ultrasound CT (LUVCT) - a multicentre, prospective, observational study.

Background: In this coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, fast and accurate testing is needed to profile patients at the emergency department (ED) and efficiently allocate resources. Chest imaging has been considered in COVID-19 workup, but evidence on lung ultrasound (LUS) is sparse. We therefore aimed to assess and compare the diagnostic accuracy of LUS and computed tomography (CT) in suspected COVID-19 patients.

Chest CT in COVID-19 at the ED: Validation of the COVID-19 Reporting and Data System (CO-RADS) and CT Severity Score: A Prospective, Multicenter, Observational Study.

Background: CT is thought to play a key role in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diagnostic workup. The possibility of comparing data across different settings depends on the systematic and reproducible manner in which the scans are analyzed and reported. The COVID-19 Reporting and Data System (CO-RADS) and the corresponding CT severity score (CTSS) introduced by the Radiological Society of the Netherlands (NVvR) attempt to do so.

[A woman with a palpable abnormality in the breast].

Mondor's disease is a rare benign condition characterized by thrombophlebitis of superficial veins of the chest and the breast. Typically, there is a spontaneous onset of tenderness and redness due to a cord-like induration on the lateral thoracic wall. It is a self-limiting disease that should be distinguished from breast cancer.