Background: Guidelines recommend in-hospital evaluation with cardiac monitoring and transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) to assess syncope in patients that are considered high-risk for major adverse cardiovascular events. We sought to identify variables associated with performing TTE in patients presenting with syncope. Methods: We abstracted demographic and clinical data from all patients evaluated for syncope at the [...]

Background: Unnecessary hospitalizations and testing for syncope remain common (1), and physician attitudes continue to favor overuse for syncope (2). Structured protocols, specialized units, and decision support algorithms may reduce health service use, but lack of data precludes the ability to advocate for use of a specific decision support algorithm (3). Purpose: Our primary aim [...]

Case Presentation: A 36 years old female with past medical history of IV drug abuse, presented with dyspnea, nasal congestion, tactile disturbances, diarrhea, body aches and generalized weakness for 1 day. She was recently treated for tricuspid valve endocarditis. A Transthoracic Echocardiogram (TTE) obtained at that time showed ejection fraction (EF) of 55-60%. On presentation, [...]

Case Presentation: A 49-year-old male presented with progressive lower extremity edema, exertional dyspnea and orthopnea for three weeks. Past medical history significant for non-ischemic cardiomyopathy, systolic heart failure and moderate aortic regurgitation (AR) diagnosed one year ago. Physical exam was significant for jugular vein distention, bibasilar crackles, loud 3/6 diastolic murmur in the aortic area [...]

Case Presentation: A 73-year-old woman with past medical history of hypertension was discovered unresponsive at home, prompting initiation of CPR during transportation to the Emergency Department, resulting in the restoration of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). A chest x-ray indicated the presence of left-sided tension pneumothorax, necessitating the placement of a chest tube. Initial electrocardiogram (EKG) findings [...]

Case Presentation: A 29 year-old woman with sickle cell disease (SCD) on hydroxyurea and L-glutamine, and mild intermittent asthma presented to our institution with right lower extremity and back pain suggestive of a vaso-occlusive crisis. She did not report fever, cough or dyspnea. Vital signs revealed a heart rate of 91/min, blood pressure of 126/86 [...]