ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Determining etiologic causes and prognosis can significantly improve management of syncope patients. The present study aimed to compare the values of San Francisco, Osservatorio Epidemiologico sulla Sincope nel Lazio (OESIL), Boston, and Risk Stratification of Syncope in the Emergency Department (ROSE) score clinical decision rules in predicting the short-term serious outcome of syncope patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present diagnostic accuracy study with 1-week follow-up was designed to evaluate the predictive values of the four mentioned clinical decision rules. Screening performance characteristics of each model in predicting mortality, myocardial infarction (MI), and cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs) were calculated and compared. To evaluate the value of each aforementioned model in predicting the outcome, sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, and negative likelihood ratio were calculated and receiver-operating curve (ROC) curve analysis was done. RESULTS: A total of 187 patients (mean age: 64.2 ± 17.2 years) were enrolled in the study. Mortality, MI, and CVA were seen in 19 (10.2%), 12 (6.4%), and 36 (19.2%) patients, respectively. Area under the ROC curve for OESIL, San Francisco, Boston, and ROSE models in prediction the risk of 1-week mortality, MI, and CVA was in the 30-70% range, with no significant difference among models (P > 0.05). The pooled model did not show higher accuracy in prediction of mortality, MI, and CVA compared to others (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study revealed the weakness of all four evaluated models in predicting short-term serious outcome of syncope patients referred to the emergency department without any significant advantage for one among others.
ABSTRACT
The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of valproate versus haloperidol in decreasing the agitation level in affected patients in the emergency department. We assigned 80 acutely agitated patients to receive either intravenous sodium valproate (20 mg/kg) or intramuscular haloperidol (5 mg/1 ml). Agitation was measured at baseline and 30 min after the first injection using the Agitation-Calmness Evaluation Scale (ACES), the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale-Excited Component subscale, and the Agitated Behavior Scale. For 80 patients treated with sodium valproate, the mean ± SD dosage was 1541.5 ± 286 mg (range 940-2400). The mean postintervention ACES scores from baseline to 30 min after drug injection were 4.73 (SD = 1.93) for the valproate group and 5.45 (SD = 2.09) for the haloperidol group (P = 0.028). No significant differences were observed in terms of the mean changes 30 min after the intervention for two additional agitation scales. A larger proportion of patients in the haloperidol group experienced intense sedation (36.2%, P < 0.001) and extrapyramidal symptoms (8.7%, P = 0.007) compared with the valproate group (2.5% for intense sedation, no patient for extrapyramidal symptoms). The findings suggest that in the clinical practice setting of emergency psychiatry, intravenous valproate is as effective as haloperidol in reducing agitation, with a better safety profile.
