The Skeptics' Guide to EM

OCTOBER 20, 2018

She is author of the blog, The Short Coat , and cofounder of the emergency medicine podcast, FOAMcast. Lauren is currently funded by an NHLBI K12 grant (1K12HL138049-01) studying the implementation of evidence-based diagnosis of pulmonary embolism in the emergency department.

Coronary 174

Coronary Emergency Department ALS OR 174

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JUNE 17, 2024

Written by Bobby Nicholson, MD 67 year old male with history of hypertension and hyperlipidemia presented to the Emergency Department via ambulance with midsternal nonradiating chest pain and dyspnea on exertion. Pain improved to 1/10 after EMS administers 324 mg aspirin and the following EKG is obtained at triage. What do you think?

E-9-1-1 136

E-9-1-1 ACS Emergency Department Coronary 136

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

OCTOBER 12, 2024

A man in his 90s with a history of HTN, CKD, COPD, and OSA presented to the emergency department after being found unresponsive at home. Vital signs were within normal limits on arrival to the Emergency Department. Written by Bobby Nicholson What do you think of this “STEMI”? Blood glucose was not low at 162 mg/dL.

STEMI 97

STEMI Coronary Emergency Department OR 97

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

MAY 20, 2024

This was sent by an undergraduate (not yet in medical school, but applying now) who works as an ED technician (records all EKGs, helps with procedures, takes vital signs) and who reads this blog regularly. They too have dense white masses consistent with coronary atherosclerosis. Annals of Emergency Medicine 2011; Suppl 58(4): S211.

CAD 122

CAD STEMI Coronary ACS 122

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

DECEMBER 27, 2023

Written by Willy Frick A man in his 50s with a history of hypertension, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and prior inferior OMI status post DES to his proximal RCA 3 years prior presented to the emergency department at around 3 AM complaining of chest pain onset around 9 PM the evening prior. Back to the case. Guagliumi, G.,

E-9-1-1 116

E-9-1-1 OR Coronary ACS 116

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

AUGUST 9, 2019

Post by Smith and Meyers Sam Ghali ( [link] ) just asked me (Smith): "Steve, do left main coronary artery *occlusions* (actual ones with transmural ischemia) have ST Depression or ST Elevation in aVR?" Chris Mondie of the Newark Beth Israel Emergency Medicine Residency sent case 1 below of a 100% LM occlusion. Widimsky P et al.

Coronary 52

Coronary STEMI ACS ALS 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

OCTOBER 18, 2023

If you were working in a busy emergency department, would you like to be interrupted to interpret these ECGs or can these patients safely wait to be seen because of the normal computer interpretation? Emergent cardiac outcomes in patients with normal electrocardiograms in the emergency department. Am J Emerg Med.

STEMI 117

STEMI Emergency Department Coronary OR 117

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JUNE 11, 2024

Many systems now refrain from showing computer "normal" ECGs to the busy emergency physicians at triage because of very poorly conceived articles that say that if the computer algorithm says "normal," the emergency physician should not be bothered. We have shown many examples of this on this blog.

STEMI 111

STEMI Coronary Emergency Department OR 111

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

MAY 27, 2024

1] But there are multiple other abnormalities that make this ECG diagnostic of Occlusion MI, localized likely to the right coronary artery: 1. Systematic review and meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy of ST-segment elevation for acute coronary occlusion. But STEMI criteria is only 43% sensitive for OMI.[1] Int J Cardiol 2024 2.

STEMI 118

STEMI Coronary ALS Emergency Department 118

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JANUARY 1, 2024

AslangerE A 65-year-old gentleman presented to the emergency department after experiencing two recent ICD shocks in the preceding hours. A recent angiogram report indicated a totally occluded left anterior descending artery (LAD) and right coronary artery (RCA), with 30-40% narrowings in the left circumflex artery (LCx).

Coronary 97

Coronary EMR STEMI Emergency Department 97

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

AUGUST 9, 2024

Written by Colin Jenkins and Nhu-Nguyen Le with edits by Willy Frick and by Smith A 46-year-old male presented to the emergency department with 2 days of heavy substernal chest pain and nausea. This has been discussed many times before on this blog. In-depth discussion is beyond the scope of this blog. link] Fesmire, F.

STEMI 84

STEMI Coronary Heart Attack ACS 84

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

MAY 23, 2023

Am J Emerg Med. I have here 38 cases of "Computer Normal" ECGs which were critically abnormal and the vast majority are missed acute coronary occlusions (Missed Acute OMI) and most were recognized by the physician. Of the Non-STEMI in our cohort, about 25% will actually have acute coronary occlusion. 2022 Jan;51:384-387.

STEMI 90

STEMI Coronary Paramedic OR 90

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

NOVEMBER 22, 2023

Angiogram: Severe two-vessel coronary artery disease with possible co-culprits (90% proximal circumflex, 70% mid/distal RCA) in the setting of non-ST elevation myocardial infarction. Marked ST depression from multi-vessel coronary disease serves to attentuate what would have been ST elevation in leads II and aVF ).

ED 102

ED Coronary CAD STEMI 102

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JANUARY 27, 2024

, tells us that we physicians do not need to even look at this ECG until the patient is placed in a room because the computer says it is normal: Validity of Computer-interpreted “Normal” and “Otherwise Normal” ECG in Emergency Department Triage Patients I reviewed this article for a different journal and recommended rejection and it was rejected.

STEMI 101

STEMI Coronary ACS ED 101

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JUNE 21, 2023

Below is the version standardized by PM Cardio app Meyers interpretation: Findings are specific for posterior (and also likely inferior) wall transmural acute infarction, most likely due to acute coronary occlusion (OMI). link] ] Outcome The patient emerged neurologically intact. Clinical Cardiology 2019.

STEMI 97

STEMI Coronary Defibrillator EMS 97

EMS 12-Lead

APRIL 14, 2022

It should be emphasized here that this is a presentation of high-pretest probability for Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS). From there you can link to other great websites (including Dr. Smith's ECG Blog) that provide multiple case studies of both subtle and overt hyperkalemia. Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, 18 (4), 752-760. [2]

ACS 130

ACS Paramedic Coronary ALS 130

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JANUARY 9, 2024

She presented to the emergency department after a couple of days of chest discomfort. The patient is an older woman with known coronary disease and an ICD-Pacemaker implanted because of a history of VT ( V entricular T achycardia ). I have emphasized on many occasions in Dr. Smith's ECG Blog how AFlutter is by far (!)

Coronary 98

Coronary ACS ED OR 98

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

A 50 year old presented to the emergency department of a remote rural community (where the nearest cath lab is a plane ride away) with one hour of mild chest pain radiating to the back and jaw, and an ECG labeled ‘normal’ by the computer interpretation. The Need for Immediate Transport?

OR 127

OR STEMI Coronary Emergency Department 127

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

NOVEMBER 4, 2022

Hgb 11g/dL (110g/L) and leukocytosis, and a mildly elevated troponin (36 ng/L, with normal 1mm STE in aVR due to ACS will require coronary artery bypass surgery for revascularization, the infarct artery is often not the LM, but rather the LAD or severe 3-vessel disease. Incidence of an acute coronary occlusion. Left main?

ACS 52

ACS Coronary STEMI ALS 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

MAY 13, 2024

Written by Destiny Folk, MD, Adam Engberg, MD, and Vitaliy Belyshev MD A man in his early 60s with a past medical history of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and hyperlipidemia presented to the emergency department for evaluation of chest pain. 4) Lastly, the QRS amplitude in V2 (both the R- and S- waves) are measured.

OR 108

OR STEMI Heart Attack Coronary 108

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

MARCH 14, 2024

According to this data a triage ECG labeled ‘normal’ rules out the possibility of acute coronary occlusion. This is obviously unreliable data, as Dr. Smith’s Blog has published 51 cases of OMI with ECGs labeled ‘normal’ , 35 of which were identified by the Queen of Hearts – with 10 examples here. It should never have been published.

STEMI 107

STEMI ACS Coronary Emergency Department 107

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

SEPTEMBER 3, 2023

This was sent by anonymous The patient is a 55-year-old male who presented to the emergency department after approximately 3 to 4 days of intermittent central boring chest pain initially responsive to nitroglycerin, but is now more constant and not responsive to nitroglycerin. It is unknown when this pain recurred and became constant.

Defibrillator 130

Defibrillator Coronary STEMI CPR 130

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

MARCH 17, 2023

Submitted by anonymous, written by Pendell Meyers A woman in her 50s presented to the Emergency Department with chest pain and shortness of breath that woke her from sleep, with diaphoresis. A very similar case to the one presented today appears in the January 17, 2023 post of Dr. Smith’s ECG Blog.

Coronary 52

Coronary Emergency Department ED OR 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JUNE 19, 2023

Written by Kaley El-Arab MD, edits by Pendell Meyers and Stephen Smith A 61-year-old male with hypertension and hyperlipidemia presented to the emergency department for chest tightness radiating to the back of his neck that has been intermittent for the past day or two. What do you think? Just another NSTEMI.

STEMI 52

STEMI ACS Coronary Defibrillator 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

MAY 19, 2020

She was unable to be defibrillated but was cannulated and placed on ECMO in our Emergency Department (ECLS - extracorporeal life support). Angiography showed normal coronaries. MINOCA: Myocardial Infarction in the Absence of Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease). 2) overlooked obstructive coronary disease (e.g.,

Defibrillator 52

Defibrillator CPR Coronary CAD 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

OCTOBER 25, 2023

A man in his 60s with a history of severe alcohol use disorder and epidural abscess on long-term ciprofloxacin presented to the emergency department after an episode of syncope while standing in line at a grocery store. Instead — it commonly reflects ischemia from severe underlying coronary disease. He did not have chest pain.

Overdose 112

Overdose OR ACS ICU 112

REBEL EM

FEBRUARY 22, 2023

difficult to see due to corneal edema) Emergency Department Management All patients should get emergency ophthalmologic consultation Start with eye drops (see table below) and add systemic medications if severe or refractory symptoms/IOP. Decreased visual acuity, Cup to disc ratio >0.6 Cup to disc ratio >0.6

Emergency Department 52

Emergency Department ALS ED Coronary 52

EMS 12-Lead

APRIL 28, 2022

Upon arrival at the receiving emergency department, however, she precipitously degenerated into VF and could not be resuscitated. In most cases, rather, the culprit is gross ischemia due to myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy, or advanced coronary artery disease. Unfortunately, a post-conversion 12 Lead was not acquired.

E-9-1-1 130

E-9-1-1 ALS Coronary EMS 130

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

OCTOBER 3, 2018

When he showed it to me, I said "Ouch, looks like an acute coronary occlusion. no LBBB or paced rhythm), acute coronary occlusion MI (OMI) is diagnosed in approximately 75% of cases. The Smith-Modified Sgarbossa Criteria Accurately Diagnose Acute Coronary Occlusion in Emergency Department Patients With Ventricular Paced Rhythm.

Coronary 52

Coronary STEMI Paramedic ALS 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

DECEMBER 29, 2023

It was ongoing on arrival in the emergency department. STEMI criteria is bad at differentiating between normal variant and acute coronary occlusion or reperfusion, and initial troponin levels don't differentiate between occlusive and non-occlusive MI 3. Am J Emerg Med 2023 2. What do you think?

STEMI 70

STEMI Coronary OR ALS 70

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

NOVEMBER 10, 2024

EMS gave aspirin and nitroglycerin, and the patient noted significant improvement on arrival to the Emergency Department. The cath lab was activated despite lack of STEMI criteria, around 2 am in the morning. Here is her ECG on arrival to the ED: Improved, but still some signal of posterior OMI.

STEMI 81

STEMI OR ED EMS 81

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

MARCH 9, 2023

Sent by anonymous, written by Pendell Meyers A man in his 50s with no prior known medical history presented to the Emergency Department with severe intermittent chest pain. Relationship between an in-farct related artery, acute total coronary occlusion, and mortality in patients with ST-segment and non-ST-segment myocardial infarction.

E-9-1-1 52

E-9-1-1 STEMI Coronary ALS 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JANUARY 23, 2023

Submitted and written by Megan Lieb, DO with edits by Bracey, Smith, Meyers, and Grauer A 50-ish year old man with ICD presented to the emergency department with substernal chest pain for 3 hours prior to arrival. The screening physician ordered an EKG and noted his ashen appearance and moderate distress. Triage EKG: What do you think?

ACS 52

ACS Coronary Defibrillator STEMI 52

ECG Medical Training

SEPTEMBER 4, 2016

He is transported to the Emergency Department where care is transferred to a nurse. Assuming the patient has signs and symptoms of an acute coronary syndrome (you always want clinical correlation), you should consider the T-waves in example A. Further Reading Take a look at these blog posts from Dr. Smith’s ECG Blog.

STEMI 52

STEMI Paramedic Coronary Emergency Department 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

APRIL 22, 2022

A prospective validation of the HEART score for chest pain patients at the emergency department. External validation of the emergency department assessment of chest pain score accelerated diagnostic pathway (EDACS-ADP). Am J Emerg Med 2020 3. Backus BE, Six AJ, Kelder JC, et al. Int J Cardiol 2013 2. Lancet 2015 6.

E-9-1-1 52

E-9-1-1 STEMI ALS ED 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

MARCH 6, 2023

2022 ACC expert consensus decision pathway on the evaluation and disposition of acute chest pain in the emergency department: A report of the American college of cardiology solution set oversight committee. • Reference: • Writing Committee, Kontos MC, de Lemos JA, et al. J Am Coll Cardiol 2022;80(20):1925–60. 2022.08.750 Section 5.2.2,

OR 52

OR STEMI ED Critical Care 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

APRIL 17, 2023

The remainder of his Emergency Department stay was uneventful. Here is the clinical informaton on ECG 2: A man in his 50s presented to the Emergency Department with acute chest pain that started within the past few hours. He had no symptoms of ACS.

OR 52

OR STEMI ACS Emergency Department 52