Comparison of High-Fidelity Medical Simulation to Short-Answer Written Examination in the Assessment of Emergency Medicine Residents in Medical Toxicology.

We compared high-fidelity medical simulation to short-answer written examination in the assessment of emergency medicine residents (EMR) on a month-long medical toxicology rotation. Knowledge-based assessment tools using cases of an aspirin overdose and a tricyclic antidepressant overdose were used to assess all consecutive rotating EMR (n=53). Assessment by simulation had similar accuracy and precision but higher satisfaction rates when compared to written examination.

Do rapid comprehensive urine drug screens change clinical management in children?

Context: Multiple studies have concluded that urine drug screens rarely change clinical management. The rapid comprehensive urine drug screen (RCUDS) at our institution detects over 300 substances using a combination of EIA and GC/MS and typically takes 2-5 h for completion.

Objective: We sought to determine whether this RCUDS altered management in the pediatric population.

Buyer Beware: Pitfalls in Toxicology Laboratory Testing.

Urine drug screens are commonly used in various clinical settings and situations. Immunoassays are the most commonly available method of testing for urine drug screens in hospitals. Although convenient, immunoassays are prone to false positive and false negative results.

Lipid rescue 911: Are poison centers recommending intravenous fat emulsion therapy for severe poisoning?

Intravenous fat emulsion (IFE) therapy is a novel treatment that has been used to reverse the acute toxicity of some xenobiotics with varied success. We sought to determine how US Poison Control Centers (PCCs) have incorporated IFE as a treatment strategy for poisoning. A closed-format multiple-choice survey instrument was developed, piloted, revised, and then sent electronically to every medical director of an accredited US PCC in March 2011.

Chronic ethanol-induced subtype- and subregion-specific decrease in the mRNA expression of metabotropic glutamate receptors in rat hippocampus.

Background: Chronic ethanol consumption is known to induce adaptive changes in the hippocampal glutamatergic transmission and alter NMDA receptor binding and subunit expression. Metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors have been shown to function as modulators of neuronal excitability and can fine tune glutamatergic transmission. This study was aimed to determine whether chronic ethanol treatment could change the messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of mGlu receptors in the hippocampus.