Objectives: Thoracic aortic aneurysm and thoracic aortic dissection are related and potentially deadly diseases that present with nonspecific symptoms. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) may detect thoracic aortic pathology and is being increasingly performed by the emergency physician at the bedside; however, the accuracy of point-of-care (POC) focused cardiac ultrasound (FOCUS) for thoracic aortic aneurysm and thoracic aortic dissection has not been studied. The objective of this pilot study was to explore the agreement, sensitivity, and specificity of FOCUS for thoracic aortic dimensions, dilation, and aneurysm compared with CT angiography (CTA) as the reference standard.Methods: This study was a retrospective pilot analysis of image and chart data on consecutive patients presenting to an urban, academic emergency department (ED) between January 2008 and June 2010, who had both a FOCUS and a CTA for suspicion of thoracic aorta pathology. Thoracic aorta dimensions were measured from recordings by three ultrasound-trained emergency physicians blinded to any initial FOCUS and CTA results. CTA measurements were obtained by a radiologist blinded to the FOCUS results. Using cutoffs of 40 and 45 mm, we calculated the sensitivity and specificity of FOCUS for aortic dilation and aneurysm with the largest measurement on CT as the reference standard. Bland-Altman plots with 95% limits of agreement were used to demonstrate agreement for aortic measurements, kappa statistics to assess the degree of agreement between tests for aortic dilation, and intraclass correlation for interobserver and intraobserver variability.Results: Ninety-two patients underwent both FOCUS and CTA during the study period. Ten FOCUS studies had inadequate visualization for all measurements areas. Eighty-two patients were included in the final analysis. Mean (±SD) age was 58.1 (±16.6) years and 58.5% were male. Sensitivity, specificity, and the observed kappa value (95% confidence interval [CI]) between FOCUS and CTA for the presence of aortic dilation at the 40-mm cutoff were 0.77 (95% CI = 0.58 to 0.98), 0.95 (95% CI = 0.84 to 0.99), and 0.74 (95% CI = 0.58 to 0.90), respectively. The mean difference (95% limits of agreement) for the BlandAltman plots was 0.6 mm ()5.3 to 6.5) for the sinuses of Valsalva, 4 mm ()2.7 to 10.7) for the sinotubular junction, 1.5 mm ()5.8 to 8.8) for the ascending aorta, and 2.2 mm ()5.9 to 10.3) for the descending aorta.Conclusions: In this retrospective pilot study, FOCUS demonstrated good agreement with CTA measurements of maximal thoracic aortic diameter. FOCUS appears to be specific for aortic dilation and aneurysm when compared to CTA, but requires further prospective study.

Objectives Out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) claims the lives of approximately 350,000 people in the United States each year. Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) when used as an adjunct to advanced cardiac life support may improve cardio‐cerebral perfusion. Our primary research objective was to determine the feasibility of emergency department (ED)‐initiated REBOA for OHCA patients in an academic urban ED. Methods This was a single‐center, single‐arm, early feasibility trial that used REBOA as an adjunct to advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) in OHCA. Subjects under 80 years with witnessed OHCA and who received cardiopulmonary rescuitation (CPR) within 6 minutes were eligible. Results Five patients were enrolled between February 2020 and April 2021. The procedure was successful in all patients and 4 of 5 (80%) patients had transient return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) after aortic occlusion. Unfortunately, all patients re‐arrested soon after intra‐aortic balloon deflation and none survived to hospital admission. At 30 seconds post‐aortic occlusion, investigators noted a statistically significant increase in end tidal carbon dioxide of 26% (95% confidence interval, 10%, 44%). Conclusion Initiating REBOA for OHCA patients in an academic urban ED setting is feasible. Aortic occlusion during chest compressions is temporally associated with improvements in end tidal carbon dioxide 30 seconds after aortic occlusion. Four of 5 patients achieved ROSC after aortic occlusion; however, deflation of the intra‐aortic balloon quickly led to re‐arrest and death in all patients. Future research should focus on the utilization of partial‐REBOA to prevent re‐arrest after ROSC, as well as the optimal way to incorporate this technique with other endovascular reperfusion strategies.

Case report A case of a 43-year-old woman presenting with acute left flank pain is reported. Method and result Point-of-care ultrasound utilizing color Doppler revealed a twinkling artifact at the left ureterovesicular junction, consistent with a ureterovesicular stone. The sonographic findings and significance of the twinkling artifact are described. Case reportA 43-year-old female presented to the emergency department (ED) complaining of acute left flank pain for 1 day. The pain was described as sharp and intermittent, radiating to the left-lower quadrant of the abdomen, and was associated with nausea and vomiting. The patient had no significant past medical, surgical, or family history, and no history of similar pains in the past. She denied any recent lifting or trauma, dysuria, hematuria, frequency, urgency, vaginal bleeding, or vaginal discharge. The patient had normal vital signs, and physical examination was remarkable only for mild left costovertebral angle tenderness. Her abdomen was soft and non-tender.The patient's urine beta-hCG was negative and urinalysis showed no pyuria but was positive for blood. A focused bedside ultrasound was performed by the emergency physician using a 5-2 MHz curvilinear array transducer (Model HD11XE, Philips, Andover, MA), which revealed mild left hydronephrosis (Fig.

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