AIR Series: Respiratory Part 1 (2015)

We found an enormous amount of posts on respiratory topics and thus have divided the content into two modules. This first module will focus on general respiratory issues with airway and pulmonary embolism covered in the second module. Below we have listed our selection of the 15 highest quality blog posts within the past 12 months (current as of April 2015) related to respiratory, curated and approved for residency training by the AIR Series Board. In this module we have 4 AIRs and 11 Honorable Mentions. We strive for comprehensiveness by selecting from a broad spectrum of blogs from the top 50 listing per the Social Media Index.

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By Andrew Grock, MD|2026-06-16T16:07:30-07:00Jun 17, 2015|Approved Instructional Resources (AIR series), Pulmonary|

Adenosine in reactive airway disease

Adenosine

A 44-year old woman presents via EMS with a chief complaint of a racing heartbeat. She is placed on a cardiac monitor, which displays a heart rate of 192, and a subsequent EKG reveals she is in SVT. She also complains of chest discomfort and shortness of breath. Her blood pressure is stable, and you decide to treat her with adenosine. As you take a more thorough past medical history, you learn your patient has a history of asthma. One of the EM residents mentions that he thought adenosine should not be given to patients with reactive airway disease.

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By Marian Gaviola, PharmD|2018-11-02T10:41:55-07:00Mar 30, 2015|Expert Peer Reviewed (Clinical), Pulmonary, Tox & Medications|

PV Card: Focused Lung Ultrasound

Bedside pulmonary ultrasonography is becoming increasingly popular in the Emergency Department. You can you use it to assess for pneumothoraces, pleural effusion, pneumonia, pulmonary edema, and other etiologies. There are subtle nuances to help you differentiate these diagnoses. What are A-lines and B-lines? This PV card on the focused lung ultrasound by Drs. Anne Aspler, Clare Heslop, and Mike Stone outline some great bedside tips.

PV Card: Focused Lung Ultrasound

Adapted from [1–3]

References

Blaivas M, Lyon M, Duggal S. A prospective comparison of supine chest radiography and bedside ultrasound for the diagnosis of traumatic pneumothorax. Acad Emerg Med. 2005;12(9):844-849. [PubMed]
Liteplo A, Marill K, Villen T, et al. Emergency thoracic ultrasound in the differentiation of the etiology of shortness of breath (ETUDES): sonographic B-lines and N-terminal pro-brain-type natriuretic peptide in diagnosing congestive heart failure. Acad Emerg Med. 2009;16(3):201-210. [PubMed]
Volpicelli G. Lung sonography. J Ultrasound Med. 2013;32(1):165-171. [PubMed]

By Scott Kobner|2021-10-06T09:48:34-07:00Feb 4, 2015|ALiEM Cards, Pulmonary, Ultrasound|

ALiEM-Annals of EM Journal Club: Spontaneous pneumothorax, pigtail catheters, and outpatient management

We are very excited this month to bring you another installment of the ALiEM-Annals of EM Global Journal Club. The highlighted article is Voison et al. on the “Ambulatory Management of Large Spontaneous Pneumothorax With Pigtail Catheters.” We hope you will participate in an online discussion based on the clinical vignette and questions below from now until Nov 17, 2014. Respond by commenting below or tweeting using the hashtag #ALiEMJC. In a few months, a summary of this journal club will be published in Annals of EM.

On Fri, Nov 14, 2014, we hosted a live Google Hangout with Dr. Stéphane Jouneau, the senior author of the Annals of EM publication who resides in France.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2026-06-16T16:06:30-07:00Nov 10, 2014|Journal Club, Pulmonary|

Diagnose on Sight: “I feel like I am having a heart attack”

Case: A 18-year-old male with no medical history presents to the emergency department (ED) complaining of “feeling like I am having a heart attack” which started suddenly 1 hour ago. The patient ate from a food truck the night before and developed several episodes of forceful vomiting prior to arrival in the ED. What finding in this supine chest radiograph aids in the diagnosis? Click on image for a larger view.

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By Nikita Joshi, MD|2016-12-22T19:15:42-08:00Sep 23, 2014|Diagnose on Sight, Pulmonary, Radiology|

US4TW Case: 28F with Shortness of Breath

Welcome to the inaugural post for an exciting new ultrasound-based case series called “Ultrasound For The Win!” (#US4TW). In this peer-reviewed case series, we will focus on real clinical cases where bedside ultrasound changed the management or aided in the diagnosis. In our first case, we present a 28-year-old female with shortness of breath.

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By Jeffrey Shih, MD, RDMS|2017-07-19T00:09:13-07:00Sep 11, 2014|Expert Peer Reviewed (Clinical), Pre Publication Critique (Clinical), Pulmonary, Ultrasound, Ultrasound for the Win|

ADJUST-PE Study: ALiEM-Annals of EM Journal Club

We are very excited this month to bring you our fourth ALiEM-Annals of EM Global Journal Club on the use of age-adjusted D-dimer levels to help exclude the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE). We hope you will participate in an online discussion of the four posted questions below from now until August 29th. Respond by commenting below or tweeting (#ALiEMJC). Mark your calendars: On Thursday, August 28th at 16:30 CST (17:30 EST), we will be hosting a 30-minute live Google Hangout with Drs. Jeff Kline and Jonathan Kirschner, the authors of the Annals of Emergency Medicine Journal Club for the ADJUST-PE Trial, that is informed by the discussion. Later this year, a summary of this journal club will hopefully be published in Annals of EM.

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By Salim Rezaie, MD|2026-06-16T16:05:36-07:00Aug 25, 2014|Cardiovascular, Journal Club, Pulmonary|