Prehospital heart failure

BACKGROUND: Hemorrhage is the leading cause of preventable death in trauma patients, and establishment of intravenous (IV) access is essential for volume resuscitation, a key component in the treatment of hemorrhagic shock. IV access among patients in shock is generally considered more challenging, although data to support this notion are lacking. METHODS: In this retrospective registry-based study, data were collected from the Israeli Defense Forces Trauma Registry (IDF-TR) regarding all prehospital trauma patients treated by IDF medical forces between January 2020 and April 2022, for whom IV access was attempted...

PURPOSE: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) has a poor prognosis, with an overall survival rate of about 5% at discharge. Shockable rhythm cardiac arrests (ventricular fibrillation (VF) and pulseless ventricular tachycardia (VT)) have a better prognosis. In case of shockable rhythm, treatment is based on defibrillation, and thereafter, in case of failure of 3 external electric shocks (EES), on direct intravenous administration of 300 mg amiodarone, or lidocaine when amiodarone is unavailable or inefficient...

The leading symptom "acute dyspnea" and the causal underlying diseases have a high risk potential for an unfavorable course of treatment with a high letality. This overview of possible causes, diagnostic procedures and guideline-based therapy is intended to help implement a targeted and structured emergency medical care in the emergency department. The leading symptom "acute dyspnea" is present in 10% of prehospital and 4-7% of patients in the emergency department. The most common conditions in the emergency department with the leading symptom "acute dyspnea" are heart failure in 25%, COPD in 15%, pneumonia in 13%, respiratory disorders in 8%, and pulmonary embolism in 4%...

BACKGROUND: Diabetes is a risk factor for a severe course of COVID-19. We evaluated the characteristics and risk factors associated with undesirable outcomes in diabetic patients (DPs) hospitalized due to COVID-19. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data analysis of patients admitted between March 6, 2020, and May 31, 2021, to the University Hospital in Krakow (Poland), a reference center for COVID-19, was performed. The data were gathered from their medical records. RESULTS: A total number of 5191 patients were included, of which 2348 (45...

BACKGROUND: Diagnostic uncertainty in patients with dyspnea is associated with worse outcomes. We hypothesized that prehospital point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) can improve diagnostic accuracy. METHODS: Prospective observational study of adult patients suffering dyspnea. Prehospital critical care physicians registered a suspected diagnosis based on clinical examination alone, performed POCUS of the heart and lungs, and finally registered suspected diagnoses based on their clinical examination supplemented with POCUS...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Despite improvements in medical therapies, patients with heart failure continue to suffer significant morbidity and mortality. Acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) remains a common and serious medical condition with a myriad of implications on patient survival and quality of life, and heart failure related readmissions persist [1-3]. RECENT FINDINGS: From the detection of prehospitalization decompensation and inpatient management of ADHF to stabilization of cardiogenic shock and durable mechanical circulatory support, device-based therapies are utilized across the spectrum of heart failure management...

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to analyze congestive heart failure (CHF) discharges in Florida (USA) post tropical cyclones from 2007 through 2017. METHODS: This was a retrospective longitudinal time series analysis of hospital CHF quarterly discharges across Florida using the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) database. The autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model was used with correlated seasonal regressor variables such as cyclone frequency, maximum cyclone wind speed, average temperature, and reports of influenza-like illness (ILI)...

BACKGROUND: Myocardial infarction (MI) patients presenting without chest pain are a diagnostic challenge. They receive suboptimal prehospital management and have high mortality. To elucidate potential benefits of improved management, we analysed expected outcome among non-chest pain MI patients if hypothetically they (1) received emergency ambulances/acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) as often as observed for chest pain patients, and (2) all received emergency ambulance/ASA. METHODS: We sampled calls to emergency and non-emergency medical services for patients hospitalized with MI within 24 h and categorized calls as chest pain/non-chest pain...

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to analyse changes in prehospital delay over time in women and men presenting with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in Switzerland. METHODS: AMIS Plus registry data of patients admitted for STEMI between 2002 and 2019 was analysed using multivariable quantile regression including the following covariates: interaction between sex and admission year, age, diabetes, pain at presentation, myocardial infarction (MI) history, heart failure history, hypertension and renal disease...

OBJECTIVES: In line with the cardiac fast track, the 'green pathway for patients with heart attack' policy in China is implemented to reduce door-to-balloon time in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). However, the difference in prehospital delay between urban and rural areas of China and its impact on prognosis is unclear. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: This study was conducted in a tertiary hospital, the only nationally accredited chest pain centre with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) capacity in Pizhou, China...

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to evaluate the association between prehospital intravenous therapy and clinical outcomes in the patients with acute heart failure. METHODS: We conducted a prospective, multicenter observational study of consecutive AHF patients. Univariate and logistic regression analysis were performed to determine association between prehospital furosemide or nitrates administration and hospital outcome (death, length of stay). RESULTS: Data on a total of 1239 patients were processed...

Technological advances over the past two decades have paved the way for the prehospital use of ultrasound. This practice was first developed in traumatology and then in a multitude of other indications, including cardiology. The development of pulmonary ultrasound is certainly the most visible illustration of this. Firstly, because it is an extra-cardiac examination that provides the answer to a cardiac question. Secondly because from a theoretical point of view this ultrasound indication was a bad indication for the use of ultrasound due to the air contained in the thorax...

Introduction  Early diagnosis and optimization of heart failure therapies in patients with acute heart failure (AHF), including in the prehospital setting, is crucial to improving outcomes. However, making the diagnosis of AHF in the prehospital setting is difficult. The goal of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of prehospital diagnosis (AHF versus not heart failure [HF]) in patients with acute dyspnea when compared to final hospital diagnosis. Methods We conducted a retrospective study of adult patients transported by emergency medical services (EMS) with a primary or secondary complaint of shortness of breath...

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to determine whether prehospital qSOFA (quick sequential organ failure assessment) assessment was associated with a shortened 'time to antibiotics' and 'time to intravenous fluid resuscitation' compared with standard assessment. METHODS: This retrospective study included patients who were referred to our Emergency Department between 2014 and 2018 by emergency medical services, in whom sepsis was diagnosed during hospitalization. Two multivariable regression models were fitted, with and without qSOFA parameters, for 'time to antibiotics' (primary endpoint) and 'time to intravenous fluid resuscitation'...

INTRODUCTION: The evidence about the use of natriuretic peptides (NP) to predict mortality in the pre-hospital setting is limited. The main objective of this study is to assess the ability of point-of-care testing (POCT) N-terminal portion of B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) to predict 2-day in-hospital mortality of acute cardiovascular diseases (ACVD). METHODS: We conducted a multicentric, prospective, observational study in adults with ACVD transferred by ambulance to emergency departments (ED)...

Study Objectives: Timely coronary reperfusion is critical for favorable outcomes after ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). A substantial proportion of the total ischemic time is patient related, occurring before first medical contact (FMC). We aimed to expand the limited current understanding of the associations between prehospital intervals and clinical outcomes. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of consecutive STEMI patients who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) (January 2009-March 2016) and assessed the associations between prehospital intervals and the incidence of new heart failure, cardiogenic shock, and hospital length of stay (LOS), adjusting for important clinical variables...

Heart failure is a common, serious condition associated with frequent exacerbations and hospitalizations. Preventable causes of more than 70% of heart failure hospitalizations are attributable to ineffective heart failure self-care, including symptom recognition and interpretation, and delayed symptom reporting and treatment seeking. The social context in which illness symptoms occur is an important aspect of symptom self-management. Self-initiated medical and nonmedical treatments for symptom relief and engaging in lay consultations with persons in social networks for symptom evaluation are common...

BACKGROUND: Recently, the number of patients presenting with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) has reduced, whereas increased mortality was reported. A plausible explanation for increased mortality was prehospital delay because of patients' reticence of their symptoms. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between prehospital delay and clinical outcomes in patients with NSTEMI METHODS: Among 13,104 patients from the Korea-Acute-Myocardial-Infarction-Registry-National Institutes of Health, the authors evaluated 6,544 patients with NSTEMI...

Background: Sex-based differences have been found in outcomes following ST-segment myocardial infarction (STEMI). Studies assessing sex-based differences in STEMI among Indian patients have reported conflicting results. Methods: A prospective multicenter registry of consecutive patients with STEMI who presented to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)-capable hospitals in the Indian state of Kerala between June 2013 and March 2017 was used to assess 1-year outcomes...

BACKGROUND: Improving telephone triage for patients with chest pain has been identified as a national research priority. However, there is a lack of strong evidence to define the life-threatening conditions (LTCs) that telephone triage ought to identify. Therefore, we aimed to build consensus for the LTCs associated with chest pain that ought to be identified during telephone triage for emergency calls. METHODS: We conducted a Delphi study in three rounds. Twenty experts in pre-hospital care and emergency medicine experience from the UK were invited to participate...