Publications by authors named "R J Takla"

Background: Magnetocardiography (MCG) may provide a rapid diagnostic option for patients presenting with chest pain in the emergency department (ED).

Case Summaries: This case series presents two instances from a multicenter study, where MCG could have served as a rapid, non-invasive diagnostic tool for chest pain patients. In both cases, multiple high-sensitivity troponin (hsTn) tests yielded incorrect evidence of ischemia.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Study Objectives: Patients frequently present to the emergency department (ED) with chest pain requiring further risk stratification. Traditional cardiac diagnostics such as stress testing may expose patients to ionizing radiation, may not be readily available, may take significant time for testing and interpretation, and adds cost to the workup. Magnetocardiography (MCG) is an alternative approach to assess candidates more quickly and efficiently than routine downstream testing.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSIs) remain among the most common infectious processes seen in the clinical setting. For patients with complicated ABSSSIs deemed to require intravenous antibiotics, vancomycin remains the mainstay therapy. Ceftaroline has been shown to be non-inferior to vancomycin and may result in faster resolution of signs of infection.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Myocardial infarction (MI) following blunt chest trauma is rare, but potentially fatal. We treated a young patient for acute MI after falling chest-first on ice while playing hockey. Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) was performed after percutaneous stenting attempts were unsuccessful.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Painless aortic dissection (PAoD) has been previously linked to poor outcomes. We recently encountered a case of a patient with PAoD presenting with dyspnea; the clue to diagnosis was the presence of a loud aortic diastolic murmur. A systematic review of the literature revealed 86 other cases, 62% of which occurred in men with a mean age of 65 years.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF