The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was exported to Korea in 2015, resulting in a threat to neighboring nations. We evaluated the possibility of using a digital surveillance system based on web searches and social media data to monitor this MERS outbreak. We collected the number of daily laboratory-confirmed MERS cases and quarantined cases from May 11, 2015 to June 26, 2015 using the Korean government MERS portal. The daily trends observed via Google search and Twitter during the same time period were also ascertained using Google Trends and Topsy. Correlations among the data were then examined using Spearman correlation analysis. We found high correlations (>0.7) between Google search and Twitter results and the number of confirmed MERS cases for the previous three days using only four simple keywords: “MERS”, “” (“MERS (in Korean)”), “” (“MERS symptoms (in Korean)”), and “” (“MERS hospital (in Korean)”). Additionally, we found high correlations between the Google search and Twitter results and the number of quarantined cases using the above keywords. This study demonstrates the possibility of using a digital surveillance system to monitor the outbreak of MERS.

Objective: We aimed to develop and validate a deep learning system for fully automated segmentation of abdominal muscle and fat areas on computed tomography (CT) images. Materials and Methods: A fully convolutional network-based segmentation system was developed using a training dataset of 883 CT scans from 467 subjects. Axial CT images obtained at the inferior endplate level of the 3rd lumbar vertebra were used for the analysis. Manually drawn segmentation maps of the skeletal muscle, visceral fat, and subcutaneous fat were created to serve as ground truth data. The performance of the fully convolutional network-based segmentation system was evaluated using the Dice similarity coefficient and cross-sectional area error, for both a separate internal validation dataset (426 CT scans from 308 subjects) and an external validation dataset (171 CT scans from 171 subjects from two outside hospitals). Results: The mean Dice similarity coefficients for muscle, subcutaneous fat, and visceral fat were high for both the internal (0.96, 0.97, and 0.97, respectively) and external (0.97, 0.97, and 0.97, respectively) validation datasets, while the mean cross-sectional area errors for muscle, subcutaneous fat, and visceral fat were low for both internal (2.1%, 3.8%, and 1.8%, respectively) and external (2.7%, 4.6%, and 2.3%, respectively) validation datasets. Conclusion: The fully convolutional network-based segmentation system exhibited high performance and accuracy in the automatic segmentation of abdominal muscle and fat on CT images.

The aim of this study was to determine whether initial shock index (SI) was independently associated with the requirement for massive transfusion (MT) in emergency department (ED) patients with primary postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). A retrospective cohort study of ED patients with primary PPH was performed at a university-affiliated, tertiary referral center between January 2004 and May 2012. Patients were classified to two groups: MT group (patients who received ≥10 U of packed red blood cells within 24 h of ED admission) and non-MT group (patients who received <10 U). Variables of the two groups were compared using univariate and multivariate analyses. A total of 126 patients were included in this study. Of these patients, 26 (20.6%) were included in MT group and 100 (79.4%) in non-MT group. Patients in MT group had significantly lower blood pressure and higher heart rate compared with patients in non-MT group (P < 0.01). Initial SI was significantly higher in MT group than in non-MT group (1.3 vs 0.8, P < 0.01). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, initial SI and heart rate were the only variables associated with the requirement for MT, with an odds ratio of 9.47 (95% confidence interval, 1.75-51.28; P < 0.01) and 1.06 (95% confidence interval, 1.02-1.09; P < 0.01), respectively. In conclusion, initial SI was independently associated with the requirement for MT in ED patients with primary PPH. Routine calculation of initial SI can help clinicians to identify patients who may benefit from timely and appropriate use of MT to improve clinical outcomes.

Point-of-care testing of lactate concentrations in the emergency department may be useful to predict massive transfusion requirements in primary postpartum haemorrhage. Combining initial lactate concentrations with the shock index improves the predictive performance for massive transfusion requirements and may contribute to rapid risk stratification of patients with primary postpartum haemorrhage in need of transfusion and further focus on early interventions to control bleeding.

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Objectives: A novel swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus caused worldwide outbreaks starting in April 2009. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of pandemic 2009 H1N1 pneumonia by comparing to community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) of other origin. Methods:The authors conducted a prospective cohort study of consecutive adult (over 15 years old) patients with suspected CAP requiring admission to a tertiary university-affiliated hospital during the second wave of pandemic 2009 H1N1 influenza. Based on the results of real-time reverse transcriptasepolymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis, the staff completed a standard assessment form and managed the patients according to a uniform protocol. Clinical characteristics, as well as laboratory and radiologic findings, were collected and compared between pandemic 2009 H1N1 pneumonia and CAP of other origin. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality and secondary outcomes were duration of hospitalization, duration of intensive care unit (ICU) stay, and requirement of mechanical ventilation.Results: A total of 135 patients with suspected CAP were included in the study. Of these, 59 patients were RT-PCR positive for H1N1 virus, and 76 patients were RT-PCR negative. Patients with H1N1 pneumonia were significantly younger than those with CAP of other origin (46.0 years vs. 68.0 years, p < 0.01) and more frequently had nonspecific symptoms (p < 0.01), initial leukopenia (8.5% vs. 0.0%, p = 0.01), lymphopenia (45.8% vs. 26.3%, p = 0.02), low values of C-reactive protein (CRP; 5.2 mg/dL vs. 13.4 mg/dL, p = 0.02), bilateral abnormalities (57.7% vs. 29.7%, p < 0.01) on chest radiography, ground glass opacities (43.9% vs. 12.8%, p < 0.01) on chest computed tomography, and low values of pneumonia severity index (PSI) score (56.0 vs. 91.0, p < 0.01) than those with CAP of other origin. However, there were no significant differences in infection severity, clinical outcome, length of ICU stay, requirement for mechanical ventilation, and mortality between the two groups.Conclusions: This study shows that clinical characteristics and outcomes of 2009 H1N1 pneumonia are comparable to those of CAP of other origin. However, some characteristics, including younger age, nonspecific symptoms (including headache, leukopenia, and fatigue), lymphopenia, lower initial CRP and PSI score, and radiologic findings (including bilateral abnormalities and ground glass opacities), may help clinicians to diagnostically differentiate between H1N1 pneumonia and CAP of other origin before the result of RT-PCR are obtained.ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2013; 20:46-53

Performance of the qSOFA score was inferior to that of the MASCC score. The preexisting risk stratification tool is more useful for predicting outcomes in patients with FN.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the utilization trends of advanced radiology, i.e. computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), examination in an emergency department (ED) of an academic medical center from 2001 to 2010.Patients and MethodsWe assessed the overall CT and MRI utilization, and the ED patient encounters. Each examination was evaluated according to the patient’s age and anatomically relevant regions.ResultsDuring the study period, 737,760 patient visited the ED, and 156,287 CT and 35,018 MRI examinations were performed. The number of annual ED patients increased from 63,770 in 2001 to 94,609 in 2010 (P = 0.018). The rate of CT utilization increased from 105.5 per 1000 patient visits in 2001 to 289.2 in 2010 (P<0.001), and the rate of MRI utilization increased from 8.1 per 1000 patient visits in 2001 to 74.6 in 2010 (P<0.001). In all of the patient age groups, the overall CT and MRI utilization increased. The greater the patient age, the more likely the use of advanced radiology [CT: 87.1 per 1000 patients in age <20 vs. 293.9 per 1000 in age>60 (P<0.001); MRI: 5.1 per 1000 patients in age <20 vs. 108.7 per 1000 in age>60 (P<0.001)]. Abdomen-pelvis (40.2%) and the head (35.7%) comprised the majority of CT scans, while the head (86.4%) comprised the majority of MRI examinations. The rates of advanced radiology use increased across all anatomical regions, with the highest increase being in chest CT (5.9 per 1000 to 49.2) and head MRI (7.2 per 1000 to 61.9).ConclusionWe report a three-fold and nine-fold increase in the use of CT and MRI, respectively, during the study period. Additional studies will be required to understand the causes of this change and to determine the effect of advanced radiology utilization on the patient outcome.