Alcohol Problems Among Older Adults in the ED

The complications of alcohol use can be subtle in older adults, and the effects of alcohol are often incorrectly attributed to aging. Because of its under-recognition, the barriers to screening, and the many subtle ways in which it can present, some have suggested that alcohol misuse has replaced syphilis as the “great masquerader”. If you don’t think alcohol misuse is a problem among older adults in your ED, it may be because it has been hidden in plain sight.

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By Christina Shenvi, MD, PhD, MBA|2026-06-16T16:04:07-07:00Sep 2, 2013|Geriatrics, Tox & Medications|

Simulation Trick of the Trade: Blindfold the Leader

Simulations are routine now in medical training. But sometimes routine can start to get boring! All learners now know, especially for high fidelity simulations, to prepare for the unexpected. The stable patient will inevitably crash, maybe when your back is turned; the confederate in the room may or may not be a friend or a foe, you may never know! But these twists have become so integral to the simulation case that most learners know how to deal with it, or at the least know to anticipate it. But here is an idea for adding a new challenge to a stale simulation case. Blindfold the leader!

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By Nikita Joshi, MD|2016-11-11T19:03:25-08:00Aug 31, 2013|Medical Education, Simulation, Tricks of the Trade|

Bundle Branch Blocks (BBBs) 101

Recently, I have been asked by several students at my home institution (UTHSC at San Antonio) to help them understand bundle branch blocks. This is different than some of my usual posts because it is meant to be more educational than evidence based. So here we go. The normal conduction system of the healthy heart is shown to the right. If there is a delay or block in the left or right bundle, depolarization will take longer to occur. Therefore we get a widened QRS (>0.12 sec or >3 small boxes).

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By Salim Rezaie, MD|2019-09-10T13:36:03-07:00Aug 29, 2013|Cardiovascular, ECG, Expert Peer Reviewed (Clinical)|

R-Wave Peak Time (RWPT) in Lead II: One Simple Step to Differentiate Wide Complex Tachycardias

There are several algorithms that are currently used to help distinguish Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT) with aberrancy and Ventricular Tachycardia (VT). Many of these algorithms lack specificity, and let’s face it, who can remember if the absence of an RS complex in the precordial leads is VT or SVT with aberrancy. So what if there was a criterion that had a good sensitivity (SN), specificity (SP), and was one simple step?

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By Salim Rezaie, MD|2019-09-10T13:36:27-07:00Aug 28, 2013|Cardiovascular, ECG|

PV Card: Brugada Criteria for SVT with Aberrancy vs Ventricular Tachycardia

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Due to the overwhelming popularity of Dr. Salim Rezaie‘s recent post discussing the Brugada criteria for SVT with aberrancy vs VT, Dr. Jason West (@JWestEM, an EM resident from Jacobi/Montefiore) kindly helped to co-author and package this information into a PV card for quick reference. To use this sequential, four-question approach, if at any time you answer YES to the question, it is ventricular tachycardia.

PV Card: SVT vs VT – Brugada Criteria

Adapted from [1]
Go to ALiEM (PV) Cards for more resources.

Reference

Brugada P, Brugada J, Mont L, Smeets J, Andries E. A new approach to the differential diagnosis of a regular tachycardia with a wide QRS complex. Circulation. 1991;83(5):1649-1659. [PubMed]

By Michelle Lin, MD|2021-10-06T19:47:10-07:00Aug 27, 2013|ALiEM Cards, Cardiovascular, ECG, Expert Peer Reviewed (Clinical)|

QI Series: Cellulitis vs Necrotizing Fasciitis

Case

A 50-year-old male was referred to the ED for evaluation of cellulitis. The patient had developed pain and swelling in his right groin region 5 days earlier. He had seen his physician 3 days before the ED visit and was started on Doxycycline. On the day of evaluation, he had returned to the office with increasing redness so was referred to the ED.

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By Steven Polevoi, MD|2016-11-11T19:02:57-08:00Aug 26, 2013|Infectious Disease|

New Quality Improvement Series: Be a detective to avoid errors

When you attend Morbidity & Mortality or Quality Improvement (QI) Conferences, the cases presented often have teaching points, which revolve around potentially avoidable errors. Subtle and not-too-subtle clues often reveal themselves along the way, which could have been detected sooner. This ALiEM QI Series, hosted by Dr. Steven Polevoi (UCSF EM Medical and QI Director), was created to help you become a better detective in finding these clues early in the patient’s course.

“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2017-03-05T14:14:14-08:00Aug 26, 2013|Emergency Medicine|