You CAN Scan the Aorta

Yes you can!  Here is a handy video showing you proper aorta scanning technique, as well as a few tips.

http://youtu.be/7N7L2xUlayM

Two amazing ocular cases

These two cases were kindly submitted to us by Dr. Lloyd Gordon of Toronto.

Case 1:
An elderly patient woke up with only peripheral vision in one eye.  Fundoscopy was non-diagnostic.

Ocular ultrasound showed the following:

Diagnosis: Macular hole

Case 2:

One Saturday evening, a dashing young emergency physician noticed a flashing arc of light in his eye whenever he moved it.  The next morning, while on shift, he performed an ultrasound of his own eye (while simultaneously intubating).  Check out the video!

Near the retina, you can see a thin white line separated from the back of the eye.  As the eye moves, the line sways as if riding a fluid wave.  This is the classic appearance of a posterior vitreous detachment.

QA session room change

Room M2389d at the general, 9:15am on Wednesday sept 19.

Journal Club Sept 12

Here is the article:

Haydar SA, Moore ET, Higgins GL et al. Effect of Bedside Ultrasonography on the Certainty of Physician Clinical Decisionmaking for Septic Patients in the ED. Ann Emerg Med. 2012;60:346-358.

See you Wednesday, 9:15am in the EM Conference Room (Coughlin Room) at the Civic.

Dr. Krywenky's great case

Another great case....

A patient with a history of breast cancer presented with what appeared to be an abscess in the right inguinal area.

Soft-tissue POCUS showed fluid, but also lots of solid material inside.  This raised the possibility that the abscess was in fact a necrotic cancerous lymph node.

Instead of performing an I&D, she ultimately referred the patient to surgery, and involved the patient's oncologist.