Central Pain Mimicking Trigeminal Neuralgia as a Result of Lateral Medullary Ischemic Stroke.

BACKGROUND: Central pain mimicking trigeminal neuralgia (TN) as a result of lateral medullary infarction or Wallenberg syndrome has been rarely reported. CASE REPORT: We discuss a patient who presented with a lateral medullary infarct and shortly after developed facial pain mimicking TN. We also elaborate on the anatomical pathway of the trigeminal nerve explaining facial pain as a result of a lateral medullary lesion. DISCUSSION: Clinicians should be aware of this typical complication of lateral medullary infarct in order to attain proper management and work-up.

Prevalence of Homelessness in the Emergency Department Setting.

INTRODUCTION: According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the national rate of homelessness has been cited as 17.7 homeless people/10,000 people in the general population, and 24.8 homeless veterans/10,000 veterans in the general population. However, it is unknown what the prevalence of homelessness is in the emergency department (ED) setting. We set out to determine the prevalence of homelessness or at risk for homelessness in the ED setting. METHODS: Using a five-question screening tool derived from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services and the Veterans Administration definition for homelessness, we surveyed all patients meeting inclusion/exclusion criteria on scheduled shifts in one of three EDs in Northeastern Pennsylvania. To participate, subjects had to be a registered patient in the ED, be 18 years or older, speak English, have the capacity to answer survey questions, not be critically ill, be willing to participate, and not have taken the survey before. We selected two survey periods to represent seasonal variations. RESULTS: We included 4,395 subjects in the analysis. The mean age of those who screened positive for homelessness or at risk for homelessness was 43.1 (SD 16.6). Overall, 136 (3.1%) participants screened positive for at risk for homelessness and 309 (7.0%) screened positive for homelessness. A total of 103 subjects (9.8%) screened positive for homelessness or at risk for homelessness on weekends and 312 (10.3%) on weekdays (p=0.64). The proportion of those screening positive for homelessness or at risk for homelessness varied by site: 145 (7.5%) at the trauma center, 151(9.1%) at the suburban site, and 149 (18.7%) at the center city site, p<0.001.There was no statistical significance to the difference between the trauma center and the suburban site (p=.088), but there was statistical significance between both the suburban and the trauma center when compared to the center city site (both p<0.0001). The proportion of those screening positive for homelessness in the summer months (156, 7.5%) was similar to those in the winter months (153, 6.6%), p=0.23. CONCLUSION: In our study, the overall prevalence of homelessness or at risk for homelessness was 10.1 percent. This prevalence did not seem to vary between weekdays and weekends. Additionally, summer months had a prevalence that was as concerning as winter months. The prevalence does, however, seem to vary by institutional characteristics even in the same geographic region. Understanding the patterns of prevalence of homelessness is a step toward considering possible interventions to assist this vulnerable population.

Subdural Hematoma as a Consequence of Epidural Anesthesia.

Regional spinal and epidural anesthesia are used commonly in operative procedures. While the most frequent complication, postdural puncture headache (PDPH), is a clinically diagnosed positional headache that is usually self-limited, subdural hemorrhage (SDH) is a potentially fatal complication that cannot be missed. We report a case of an otherwise healthy female who presented with persistent positional headache and was ultimately found to have a large subdural hematoma with midline shift requiring surgical evacuation.