Prospective Evaluation of the Recognition of Stroke In the Emergency Room (ROSIER) Scale in Emergency Department

PURPOSE: Early assessment and rapid intervention in patients with acute stroke can reduce mortality and complication. We conducted a prospective evaluation of the Recognition Of Stroke In the Emergency Room (ROSIER) scale for use in patients with suspected stroke. METHODS: We studied 312 patients with suspected acute stroke who were admitted to the emergency department within 7 months from August 2013 to February 2014. Emergency physicians used the ROSIER scale as a stroke recognition tool, compared with the Face Arm Speech Test (FAST). Patients meeting the inclusion criteria were evaluated for both the FAST and the ROSIER scale and compared with the final discharge diagnoses. Then, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), area under curve of the FAST, and the ROSIER scale were calculated. RESULTS: The patient group consisted of 141 males and 171 females with an average age of 60 years; 112 (35.9%) patients had ROSIER scale > or =1 indicating a stroke, 98 (31.4%) of these patients had stroke as a final diagnosis. The FAST showed sensitivity of 85.8%, specificity of 92.5%, PPV of 86.6%, and NPV of 92.0%. The ROSIER scale showed relative sensitivity of 86.7%, specificity of 93.0%, PPV of 87.5%, and NPV of 92.5%. CONCLUSION: In this study, the ROSIER scale was a useful stroke recognition tool for potential stroke patients, but showed no significant superiority over the FAST.

The Assessment and Consideration about Feasibility of eFAST Exam in Medical School Students in Korea

PURPOSE: Emergency physicians usually perform ultrasound exams for patients with multiple injuries. Extended focused assessment with sonography for trauma (eFAST) can reveal injuries from chest to the abdomen immediately. However, in Korea, the curriculums of medical schools do not currently include eFAST. We have devised a study to assess the feasibility of the eFAST exam in medical school students. METHODS: This study was conducted in students in their fifth year out of six years of medical school, over 11 weeks. Four Emergency Medicine specialists trained the students over 4 hours, tested the students, and conducted a questionnaire. RESULTS: Average age of students was 25.9+/-2.6 years, and 24 were male and 20 were female. Mean success rate of 17 components on the eFAST exam was 95.9% (94.6%-97.4%). The success rate of transverse view of aorta, transverse view of bladder, lung sliding sign, and sea-shore sign of both anterior chest walls was 100%, scanning the spleen and attaching the probe to a body surface were 75%, 86.3%. Total time consumption was 449.0+/-22.2 seconds. The questionnaires showed that the eFAST exam for the splenorenal recess, spleen, and left upper quadrant lung was difficult. CONCLUSION: We found that medical students in Korea could perform the eFAST exam by themselves after 4 hours education. In the future, these findings can be helpful in development of an eFAST education program for medical students.

Guidewire Entrapment During Central Venous Catheterization

Central venous catheterization is common in the emergency department for monitoring of CVP (central venous pressure), fluid administration, and drug infusions. However, the insertion of a central venous catheter is a technically challenging procedure with known risks and complications. A 94-year-old woman was transferred to an emergency department due to difficulties in removing the guidewire during central catheter insertion through the right subclavian vein. A focused bedside ultrasound showed that the guidewire was improperly positioned in the right internal jugular vein. Upon computed tomographic evaluation, the guidewire perforated the right subclavian vein, looped in the mediastinum, reentered the right internal jugular vein toward the right jugular foramen, and was removed by surgery. In conclusion, as catheter and guidewire entrapment are well-known potential complications of central venous catheterization, when resistance is encountered at any stage of central venous catheterization (especially when removing the entrapped catheter or guidewire) the procedure should be stopped and evaluated with imaging assistance. Clinicians should be aware of more complicated sequelae caused by blunt removal of an entrapped catheter and guidewire, despite its low probability.