Background: Consultation in hospital is an important tool for acquiring subspecialty support when managing patients with acute congestive heart failure (CHF). The effect of consult utilization on hospital outcomes and resource utilization of acute CHF is unknown.   Methods: Discharge data was obtained for patients discharged with a principal diagnosis of acute CHF over 3 [...]

Background: Acute heart failure (AHF) is the major cause of hospital admission and death. Furthermore, patients admitted with AHF have high readmission rates and  postdischarge mortality. Although there have been some reports, which demonstrated the predictive factors of death among patients of acute heart failure in the USA and Europe, there has been no studies [...]

Background:   Congestive heart failure (CHF) and pneumonia are amongst the leading causes of hospitalization in the United States.  Although a growing number of hospitals use both teaching and nonteaching hospitalist services for patient care, the differences in clinical outcomes and efficiency between these two services is not clearly known. The aim of this study [...]

Background:   Congestive heart failure is a leading cause of hospitalization in adults greater than 65 years old. It is estimated that over 1 million people are hospitalized annually with a primary diagnosis of heart failure. Given the challenges of heart failure management, readmission within 30 days of hospital discharge is estimated to be 24%. [...]

Background: Do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders are intended to allow patients to forgo cardiopulmonary resuscitate (CPR) in the event of cardiac arrest. They are applied to cases of cardiac arrest, and they cannot be applied to any situation other than cardiac arrest. However, prior studies have shown that the presence of DNR orders led to changes in treatment [...]

Case Presentation: A 63-year-old female with no PMH or FH of heart disease presented to the ER with dyspnea and pressure-like central chest pain. She reported a 3-week history of cough, sore throat and rhinorrhea. On evaluation, vital signs were T 97.8°F, BP 143/85 mmHg, HR 150/min, RR 20/min and SpO297%. Physical exam was significant [...]

Case Presentation: A 45-year-old previously healthy male with a known history of polysubstance use (tobacco, ethanol, and cocaine) presented to the emergency department with sudden onset left-sided facial droop, hemiparesis, hemisensory loss, and dysarthria. The patient reported using cocaine twelve hours previously. On arrival, the EKG revealed complete atrial ventricular dissociation with a ventricular escape [...]

Case Presentation: A 29-year-old previously healthy male presented to an outside hospital emergency department with two days of flu-like symptoms including fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and recurrent episodes of syncope. On arrival, physical exam revealed a heart rate of 50 beats/minute and a blood pressure of 75/53 mmHg, elevated JVP, diminished right basilar [...]

Case Presentation: A 38-year-old male presented to the hospital with fatigue and progressive exertional dyspnea. He had a childhood history of Kawasaki disease (KD) with no treatment or subsequent follow up. Physical exam revealed marked volume overload, JVD, bibasilar crackles, and an S3 at the left ventricular apex.  EKG was unremarkable. Chest x-ray showed pulmonary [...]

Case Presentation: 81 y/o African-American woman with PMH of NICM with LVEF of 35-40% and CKD stage 3 presented to ED with complaints of cough, increased lower extremity swelling, and progressive DOE. She endorsed noncompliance with her diet, indulging in fried chicken but compliance with her medications. During her last admission, she was noted to [...]