Addressing end-of-life care in the chronically ill: Conversations in the emergency department.

Patients present to the emergency department in various stages of chronic illness. Advance directives (ADs) aid emergency physicians in making treatment decisions, but only a minority of Americans have completed an AD, and the percentage of those who have discussed their end-of-life wishes may be even lower. This article addresses the use of common ADs and roadblocks to their use from the perspectives of families, patients, and physicians.

Colloid cyst of the third ventricle.

A colloid cyst is a malformation composed of an amorphous, gelatinous material surrounded by epithelial and connective tissue. It is typically located in the third ventricle, leading to signs of increased intracranial pressure and hydrocephalus. In this case report, we discuss a classic presentation of a patient presenting with a colloid cyst of the third ventricle.

Postoperative tonsil/adenoidectomy bleeding management in patients with diagnosed bleeding disorders.

Objective: Tonsil/adenoidectomy (T/A) is a commonly performed procedure with an average post-tonsillectomy bleed (PTB) rate between 3 and 5%. Patients with bleeding disorders (BDs) are believed to have an increased risk of PTB. We hypothesize that our medical management of BD patients using a combination of DDAVP/antifibrinolytic agents has a similar PTB rate to control patients.

The role of hospital ethics committees in emergency medicine practice.

Emergency physicians face real-time ethical dilemmas that may occur at any hour of the day or night. Hospital ethics committees and ethics consultation services are not always able to provide immediate responses to emergency physicians' consultation requests. When faced with an emergent dilemma, emergency physicians sometimes rely on risk management or hospital counsel to answer legal questions, but may be better served by real-time ethics consultation.