Daniel W. Ross, MD; Zubair Hasan, MD – The severe acute respiratory virus covariate-2 (SARS CoV-2) that causes Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected more than 194 million people worldwide and has attributed to or caused more than 4 million deaths. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication of COVID-19. Point of care ultrasonography (POCUS) can be a useful tool for the nephrologist.
David Kearney, MD; Nathaniel Reisinger, MD; Sadichhya Lohani, MBBS – Volume status assessment is a critical but challenging clinical skill and is especially important for the management of patients in the emergency department, intensive care unit, and dialysis unit where accurate intravascular assessment is necessary to guide appropriate fluid management. Assessment of volume status is subjective and can vary from provider to provider, posing clinical dilemmas.
Momodou L. Sonko, BS; T. Campbell Arnold, BS; Ivan A. Kuznetsov, BS – When a patient presents to the ED, clinicians often turn to medical imaging to better understand their condition. Traditionally, imaging is collected from the patient and interpreted by a radiologist remotely. However, scanning devices are increasingly equipped with analytical software that can provide quantitative assessments at the patient’s bedside. These assessments often rely on machine learning algorithms as a means of interpreting medical images.
Noelle M. Northcutt, MD; Nathaniel C. Reisinger, MD – For those that have experienced how much point of care ultrasound can positively impact patient care, the potential of an organized point of care ultrasound program is moderated by the reality of building such a program from scratch. We have watched novice and intermediate users ride the roller coaster of ambition and reality checks at each of the hands-on skills sessions across the nation.
Larissa Kruger Gomes, MD; Het Patel, MD; Nikhil Agrawal, MD; Yael Vin, MD – appropriate assessment of ateriovenous fistulas and grafts is of critical importance. Point of care Ultrasound (POCUS) can be an additional useful skill at the bedside for assessment of the hemodialysis vascular access.
by Maria Viviana Carlino MD; Costantino Mancusi MD; Alfonso Sforza MD; Giorgio Bosso MD; Valentina Di Fronzo MD; Gaetana Ferro MD; Giovanni de Simone Prof.; Fiorella Paladino MD –
A 74-year-old woman with history of hypertension presented to the Emergency Department (ED) with severe resting dyspnea and swelling in the feet, ankles and legs. She was on treatment with furosemide and a beta blocker. At the time of admission blood pressure was 145/88 mmHg, heart rate (HR) 99 bpm, regular, oxygen saturation was 89% (FiO2 21%) and respiratory rate was 17 breaths/min.
by Bill Ayach MD PhD; Aadil Dhansay MD1, Andrew Morris MD; James W. Tam MD; Davinder S. Jassal MD –
A 59 year old male presented with a 1 day history of non-exertional chest pain that was pleuritic in nature and aggravated by lying flat. His chest pain symptoms were preceded by a one week history of “flu-like” symptoms. Physical exam demonstrated a blood pressure of 114/55 mmHg, heart rate of 75 bpm, and a normal oxygen saturation on room air. Cardiac examination revealed a biphasic pericardial rub vs. to-and-fro murmur.
by Michael Cenkowski, MD; Amer M. Johri, MD; Raveen Pal, MD; Jennifer Hutchison, RDCS –
A 35-year-old male with a past medical history of end stage renal disease on hemodialysis and a chronic pericardial effusion secondary to dialysis presented to the Emergency Room (ER) with a 2-week history of a flu-like illness and pleuritic chest pain. He was compliant with dialysis three times per week. His blood pressure was 150/85 mmHg with a heart rate of 85 beats per minute and the remainder of his vital signs were stable. Pulsus paradoxus was not present.
by Victor Istasy MD, FRCPC; Tim Lynch MD, FRCPC; Rodrick Lim, MD, FRCPC –
A healthy, four month-old female infant presented to a local emergency department with a 12-hour history of decreased activity, non-bilious vomiting and one episode of dark red blood in the stools. There was no history of fever. Telephone consultation was completed and the patient was transferred to a tertiary, pediatric centre for further evaluation. On arrival, the infant appeared pale and was lethargic during the exam.
by Rimi Sambi, MD and Heather Sawula, MD; Brent Wolfrom, MD; and Joseph Newbigging, MD –
As point of care ultrasound (PoCUS) becomes increasingly popular and a standard of care in many clinical settings, the interest for integration in medical undergraduate curriculum is also growing. This project aims to assess whether formal bedside Focused Abdominal Scan for Trauma (FAST) exam training of medical students increases their knowledge and comfort with the use of bedside ultrasound in a family medicine setting at Queen’s University.