Background: Overuse of head computed tomography (CT) for syncope has been reported. However, there is no literature synthesis on this overuse. We undertook a systematic review to determine the use and yield of head CT and risk factors for serious intracranial conditions among syncope patients. Methods:We searched Embase, Medline, and Cochrane databases from inception until June 2017. Studies including adult syncope patients with part or all of patients undergoing CT head were included. We excluded case reports, reviews, letters, and pediatric studies. Two independent reviewers screened the articles and collected data on CT head use, diagnostic yield (proportion with acute hemorrhage, tumors or infarct), and risk of bias. We report pooled percentages, I 2 , and Cochran's Q-test.Results: Seventeen articles with 3,361 syncope patients were included. In eight ED studies (n = 1,669), 54.4% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 34.9%-73.2%) received head CT with a 3.8% (95% CI = 2.6%-5.1%) diagnostic yield and considerable heterogeneity. In six in-hospital studies (n = 1,289), 44.8% (95% CI = 26.4%-64.1%) received head CT with a 1.2% (95% CI = 0.5%-2.2%) yield and no heterogeneity. In two articles, all patients had CT (yield 2.3%) and the third enrolled patients ≥ 65 years old (yield 7.7%). Abnormal neurologic findings, age ≥ 65 years, trauma, warfarin use, and seizure/stroke history were identified as risk factors. The quality of all articles referenced was strong.Conclusion: More than half of patients with syncope underwent CT head with a diagnostic yield of 1.1% to 3.8%. A future large prospective study is needed to develop a robust risk tool. S yncope is defined as a sudden and brief loss of consciousness (LOC) due to transient global cerebral hypoperfusion, followed by spontaneous and complete recovery. 1 It accounts for 1% to 3% of emergency department (ED) visits. 1-4 Among ED patients with syncope, 7% to 23% will have serious underlying conditions identified either in the ED or within 30 days of their index visit. 5-8 Previous studies have reported 2.3% to 4.4% incidence of serious intracranial conditions (subarachnoid hemorrhage, subdural hematoma, space-occupying lesion, or intraparenchymal infarct or hemorrhage) among

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Background Serial conventional cardiac troponin (cTn) measurements 6-9 hours apart are recommended for non-ST-elevation MI (NSTEMI) diagnosis. We sought to develop a pathway with 3-hour changes for major adverse cardiac event (MACE) identification and assess the added value of the HEART [History, Electrocardiogram (ECG), Age, Risk factors, Troponin] score to the pathway. Methods We prospectively enrolled adults with NSTEMI symptoms at two-large emergency departments (EDs) over 32-months. Patients with STEMI, unstable angina and one cTn were excluded. We collected baseline characteristics, Siemens Vista conventional cTnI at 0, 3 or 6-hours after ED presentation; HEART score predictors; disposition and ED length of stay (LOS). Adjudicated primary outcome was 15-day MACE (acute MI, revascularization, or death due to cardiac ischemia/unknown cause). We analyzed multiples of 99th percentile cutoff cTnI values (45, 100 and 250ng/L). Results 1,683 patients (mean age 64.7 years; 55.3% female; median LOS 7-hours; 88 patients with 15-day MACE) were included. 1,346 (80.0%) patients with both cTnI�45 ng/L; and 155 (9.2%) of the 213 patients with one value�100ng/L but both<250ng/L or �20% change did not suffer MACE. Among 124 patients (7.4%) with one of the two values>45ng/L but<100ng/L based on 3 or 6-hour cTnI, one patient with absolute change<10ng/L and 6 of the 19 patients with�20ng/L were diagnosed with NSTEMI (patients with Δ10-19ng/L between first and second cTnI had third one at 6-hours). Based on the results, we developed the Ottawa Troponin Pathway (OTP) with a 98.9% sensitivity (95% CI 93.8-100%) and 94.6%

Background:Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is a rare malignancy with a median survival of less than 3 months, if untreated. Multimodality treatments with high‐dose methotrexate (HD‐MTX)‐based systemic therapy and/or whole brain irradiation for consolidation or salvage constitutes the most commonly used treatment approach. Due to severe treatment toxicity and aggressive course of the disease, not all patients benefit from this treatment approach.Aims:In this retrospective study, we aimed to identify various clinical parameters that predicted outcomes on survival, and response to various treatments in patients with PCNSL.Methods:Patients diagnosed with PCNSL between 2002 and 2017 were selected for analysis. Data on patient demographics, tumor characteristics and treatment were collected and analyzed for correlation with clinical outcomes. Survival curves were generated with the Kaplan‐Meier method and compared using log‐rank test. Multivariate analysis was performed where prognostic variables and patient outcome were correlated with Cox proportional hazard model.Results:A total of 82 patients were identified and selected for analysis. Median age at diagnosis was 68 years (range 30‐89 years) and median follow up was 3.7 years. The majority (86.6%) of tumors were identified as diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma on histology. Among the 82 patients, 10 (12.2%), 31 (37.8%) and 23 (28.0%) patients received systemic therapy (CT) only, radiotherapy (RT) only and systemic therapy followed by salvage radiotherapy (CRT), respectively, while 18 (22.0%) patients received supportive care (SC) only. Median time interval between diagnosis and treatment was 33 days for CT group and 63 days for RT group. Median overall survival (OS) of the entire cohort was 11.1 months (95% CI 6.1‐15.5 months), while median OS for RT, CRT and SC groups were 8.8 months (95% CI 4.5‐11.3 months), 30.1 months (95% CI 19.3‐41.0 months) and 3.3 months (95% CI 0.8‐5.8 months), respectively (median OS for CT group not reached). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that both the use of systemic therapy (hazard ratio [HR] 0.23, 95% CI 0.11‐0.49, p < 0.001) and radiotherapy (HR 0.54, 95% CI 0.32‐0.92, p = 0.022) were associated with improved survival in the total population, while age (p = 0.48) or type of tumor (p = 0.88) did not demonstrate any statistical significance. Subgroup analysis showed that systemic therapy in patients younger than 70 years of age was associated with improved OS (HR 0.13, 95% CI 0.05‐0.32, p < 0.001), whereas in elderly patient population (70 years of age or older), addition of radiotherapy was associated with improved OS (HR 0.45, 95% CI 0.21‐0.96, p = 0.039).Summary/Conclusion:Our results concur with the published literature demonstrating the survival benefit with the use of systemic therapy in younger patient population. Radiotherapy was independently associated with an improved overall survival in older patient population and therefore should be considered as palliative treatment of choice in the elderly population who may not be candidates for systemic therapy. Further prospective studies are required to validate our findings as well as optimization of radiotherapy in this population.

Introduction: Syncope accounts for 1-3% of Emergency Department (ED) visits. Previous studies have reported overuse of computed tomography (CT) of the head among syncope patients. Professional organizations including Choosing Wisely have recommended against its use in the absence of high-risk features. However, a review of CT head use among syncope patients and its diagnostic yield has not been previously reported. Methods: We conducted a systematic review using EMBASE, Medline, and Cochrane databases from inception to August 2016. We included studies involving adult syncope patients that reported CT head use and its diagnostic yield during acute management by a two-step process: first title/abstract review and then full-text review of selected articles. We excluded case reports, narrative reviews and those involving children. We collected the proportion of patients who had CT head performed, and its diagnostic yield. Outcomes included identification of acute intracranial conditions (hemorrhage, mass or infarct) that require further management. Two reviewers independently abstracted the data and discrepancies were resolved by consensus. We calculated inter-observer reliability for inclusion in the systematic review using kappa values. We performed meta-analysis for diagnostic yield of the CT head. Results: Fifteen studies with 2,802 syncope patients in four sub-groups (proportion of patients among whom CT head was performed and its yield in ED and inpatient settings; studies that reported only the yield among those with CT head performed; and the use and yield among syncope patients ≥65 years old) were included. The inter-observer agreement for inclusion of final articles for meta-analysis was κ=0.925 [95% CI: 0.861-0.990]. Seven ED studies (n=1,261) reported 55.7% patients (95% CI: 32.1-78.0%) had head CT performed with a yield of 4.0% (95% CI: 2.7-5.6%); 5 studies with 1138 hospitalized patients reported that 38.6% (95% CI: 20.4-58.6%) had head CT with a yield of 1.1% (95% CI: 0.4-2.2%). The yield among studies that report only outcomes for CT head was 2.3% and the yield among patients’ ≥65 years was 7.7%. Conclusion: Our review found that a very high proportion of syncope patients had CT head performed during acute management with a very low diagnostic yield. The yield is higher among patients ≥65 years old. A robust tool to identify patients who require a CT head will reduce unnecessary testing.

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Introduction: Creatine kinase (CK) measurement, despite not being recommended for the diagnosis of a Non-ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction (NSTEMI) is still routinely performed in the emergency department (ED) for the workup of NSTEMI. The diagnostic utility of CK among ED patients with suspected NSTEMI is still not well understood. The objectives of this study were to assess: the additional value of CK in NSTEMI diagnosis and the correlation between the highest CK/TNI values and ejection fraction (EF) on follow-up echocardiography among patients with suspected NSTEMI. Methods: This was a prospective cohort study conducted at the Civic and General Campuses of The Ottawa Hospital from March 2014 to March 2016. We enrolled adults (18 years) for whom troponin (TNI) and CK were ordered for chest pain or non-chest pain symptoms within the past 24 hours concerning for NSTEMI and excluded those with suspected ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI). Primary outcome was a 30-day NSTEMI adjudicated by two blinded physicians. Demographics, medical history, and ED CK/TNI values were collected. We used descriptive statistics and report test diagnostic characteristics. Results: Of the 1,663 patients enrolled, 84 patients (5.1%) suffered NSTEMI. The sensitivity and specificity of CK was 30.9% (95%CI 21.1, 40.8) and 91.4% (95%CI 90.0, 92.8) respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of troponin was 96.4% (95%CI 92.4, 100) and 88.1% (95%CI 86.5, 89.7) respectively. Among 3 (0.2%) patients with missed NSTEMI diagnosis with TNI, CK measurements did not add value. The mean CK values were not significantly different between those with normal and abnormal EF on follow-up (132.4 U/L and 146.3 U/L respectively; p=0.44), whereas the mean TNI values were significantly different (0.5 µg/L and 1.3 µg/L respectively; p=0.046). Conclusion: CK measurements neither provide any additional value in the work-up of NSTEMI in the ED nor correlate with EF on follow-up. Discontinuing routine CK measurements would reduce overall costs and improve resource utilization in the ED, and streamline the management of patients in the ED with chest pain.