Project description:T-wave inversion on electrocardiogram (ECG) is always a concerning finding as it is often associated with myocardial ischemia or ventricular strain. Respiratory variation in the T-wave morphology has been reported in the literature; however, the frequency of this observation remains unknown as this is not routinely evaluated. Although the exact physiological mechanisms underlying this ECG change are unclear, it is proposed to be due to the respiratory variation of the heart position resulting in an alteration in T-wave polarity. We describe a case of a patient who presented with chest pain with T-wave inversions in inferior and lateral ECG leads. On repeating ECG with breath held in end inspiration, the T waves became positive. The pain was found to be musculoskeletal in origin. This case is a reminder of an under-recognized physiological phenomenon involving the cardiac conduction. Variation of T-wave morphology with respiration may suggest a noncardiac cause of chest pain.
Project description:We present two cases of spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD). Both examples encourage a broad differential and open mind for chest pain in a young woman. We also highlight a case of SCAD where the patient presented following ventricular fibrillation arrest, a less common though potentially fatal consequence of SCAD.
Project description:Drug-induced myocarditis is a rare, but underrecognized complication of clozapine therapy for schizophrenia. We present a case of clozapine-induced myocarditis with recovery of cardiac function after drug cessation and summarize the literature to highlight the variable presentation of this condition.
Project description:A 45-year-old man presented to the emergency department (ED) with progressive chest pain and dyspnea 3 months after aortic valve replacement. He had been evaluated by his primary care physician and cardiologist and no diagnosis had been made. On arrival, the emergency physicians performed point-of-care ultrasonography, which showed a large hypoechoic collection compressing the right ventricle. This prompted further workup, including a computed tomography of the chest, which revealed a large fluid collection in the anterior mediastinum. Subsequently, cardiothoracic surgery was consulted and the patient was taken to the operating room for a sternal washout with evacuation of the collection.
Project description:ObjectivesThe objective was to evaluate if there is an association between patient-physician language concordance and adverse patient outcomes or physician adherence to clinical recommendations for emergency department (ED) patients with chest pain.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective observational study of adult ED chest pain encounters with a troponin order from May 2016 to September 2017 across 15 community EDs. Outcomes were 30-day acute myocardial infarction or all-cause mortality, hospital admission/observation, or noninvasive cardiac testing. To assess patient outcomes, we used the overall cohort. To assess adherence to clinical recommendations, we used a subgroup of patients with a low-risk HEART score. A mixed-effects logistic regression model was used to compare the odds of the outcomes between language concordant and discordant patient-physician pairs, controlling for patient characteristics.ResultsOverall, 52,014 ED encounters were included (10,791 low-risk HEART encounters). Of those 6,452 (12.4%) encounters were language discordant and 1.7% in each group had an adverse outcome. Adjusted models demonstrated no increased risk for language discordant ED encounters when comparing adverse outcomes (odds ratio [OR] = 0.96, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.6 to 1.5) for all patients or recommended care (OR = 1.02, 95% CI = 0.87 to 1.2) for low-risk patients.ConclusionsNo associations were found between patient-physician language concordance and outcomes or physician adherence to clinical recommendations for ED patients with chest pain. Accessible and effective interpretation services, combined with a decision support tool with standard clinical recommendations, may have contributed to equitable care.
Project description:BACKGROUND:Chest pain as the primary manifestation of epilepsy is extremely rare and has only been reported once to date. CASE PRESENTATION:We herein describe a 47-year-old woman with recurrent chest pain for 3 years. The cause of her chest pain remained elusive despite extensive investigations including comprehensive cardiac work-up. She was referred to the neurology clinic for one episode of confusion. Video-electroencephalographic monitoring detected unequivocal ictal changes during her habitual chest pain events. She has remained chest pain (seizure) free with a single antiseizure drug. CONCLUSIONS:This case underlines the importance of epilepsy as a rare yet treatable cause of recurrent chest pain. Further studies are required to determine the pathophysiology of ictal chest pain.
Project description:BackgroundWide variation exists for hospital admission rates for the evaluation of possible acute coronary syndrome, but there are limited data on physician-level variation. Our aim is to describe physicians' rates of admission for suspected acute coronary syndrome and associated 30-day major adverse events.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective analysis of adult emergency department chest pain encounters from January 2016 to December 2017 across 15 community emergency departments within an integrated health system in Southern California. The unit of analysis was the Emergency physician. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients admitted/observed in the hospital. Secondary analysis described the 30-day incidence of death or acute myocardial infarction.ResultsThirty-eight thousand seven hundred seventy-eight patients encounters were included among 327 managing physicians. The median number of encounters per physician was 123 (interquartile range, 82-157) with an overall admission/observation rate of 14.0%. Wide variation in individual physician admission rates were observed (unadjusted, 1.5%-68.9%) and persisted after case-mix adjustments (adjusted, 5.5%-27.8%). More clinical experience was associated with a higher likelihood of hospital care. There was no difference in 30-day death or acute myocardial infarction between high- and low-admitting physician quartiles (unadjusted, 1.70% versus 0.82% and adjusted, 1.33% versus 1.29%).ConclusionsWide variation persists in physician-level admission rates for emergency department chest pain evaluation, even in a well-integrated health system. There was no associated benefit in 30-day death or acute myocardial infarction for patients evaluated by high-admitting physicians. This suggests an additional opportunity to investigate the safe reduction of physician-level variation in the use of hospital care.
Project description:A 14-year-old with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) developed chest pain with ST-segment elevation, elevated serum troponin, and progressive ventricular dysfunction. Multimodality imaging showed an anomalous right coronary artery from the left sinus of Valsalva with intramural course, but further diagnostic testing led to the diagnosis of acute presentation of DMD-associated cardiomyopathy. (Level of Difficulty: Beginner.).
Project description:Isolated anomalous origin of right coronary artery is a rare developmental anomaly which is mostly asymptomatic and is discovered incidentally. We present a case of a 21-year-old male who presented with chest pain and was found to have anomalous origin of right coronary artery from pulmonary artery for which he underwent prompt surgical correction.