Department Blog

Amal Mattu, MD, collaborated with John Field, MD, from Penn State College of Medicine, as guest editors of the February issue of Cardiology Clinics, titled “Emergency Cardiology: From ED to CCU.” Dr. Mattu also coauthored one of the articles in this issue, “Evolving Electrocardiographic Indications for Emergent Reperfusion,” along with Michael Lipinski, MD, PhD, from MedStar Washington Hospital Center, and William J. Brady, MD, from the University of Virginia School of Medicine (36[1]:13-26).

As a member of the Ethics Committee of the American College of Emergency Physicians, Elizabeth Clayborne, MD, MA, co-authored the article titled “Futile Care—An Emergency Medicine Approach: Ethical and Legal Considerations,” which was published in the November issue of Annals of Emergency Medicine (70[5]:707?713). The article takes a compassionate look at futile care in the emergency department and concludes with recommendations for communication and consultation.

Kinjal Sethuraman, MD, MPH, was the Grand Rounds speaker for the emergency medicine residency at the University of Connecticut in mid-January. The title her lecture, presented at Hartford Hospital, was "Emergent Indications for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: Saving Vision, Saving Mind."

Roger Stone, MD, MS, EMS Medical Director, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, served as collaborator, advisor, and coauthor for two studies conducted by prehospital personnel. The results of those studies were presented as posters at this year’s annual conference of the National Association of EMS Physicians, held in San Diego in January. Captain Jamie Baltrotsky, BS, NRP, presented "Preliminary Impacts of Adding Follow-up Home Visits on Call Volumes Generated by EMS ‘Super-Users’ Enrolled in a New Mobile Integrated Health Protocol" and Lieutenant Timothy Burns, MS, NRP, presented "The AFIRE Trial: Analysis oF medIcatIon storage TempeRatuREs (AFIRE) in a Modern EMS Fleet.”

Stephen Thom, MD, PhD, and Ming Yang, MD, MS, in collaboration with colleagues from Serbia, Croatia, and Canada, published the article titled “Disturbed Blood Flow Worsens Endothelial Dysfunction in Moderate-Severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease” in the December 2017 issue of Scientific Reports.

George Willis, MD, was interviewed by a reporter from The Baltimore Sun for a story about ED interventions for patients with cold-related conditions. The article is posted at www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-hs-cold-weather-death-20171206-story.html.

Zachary D.W. Dezman, MD, presented the results of his study, “Component Analysis of Three Screens for the Prehospital Triage of Patients with Uncomplicated Alcohol Intoxication,” on October 29 in Washington, DC, during the Research Forum at the annual Scientific Assembly of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Sumit Patel, MD, PGY3, was honored with the award for Best Resident Research Abstract Presentation at the 2017 Scientific Assembly of the American College of Emergency Physicians, held in Washington, DC, in October. The title of his presentation was “"A Comparison of Three Sobering Center Screens Using a Prospective Cohort of Intoxicated Emergency Department Patients.” He collaborated in this work with his faculty mentor, Zachary Dezman, MD, and Saudi research scholar, Salman Leslom, MD.

Seven emergency medicine faculty members were invited speakers at the 2017 Scientific Assembly of the American College of Emergency Physicians, held in Washington, DC, in October. Their topics are listed below:

Michael Winters, MD
• Cruising the Literature: Top Articles in Critical Care
• The ICU is NOT Ready for Your Patient
• Undifferentiated Shock...Making a Difference
George Willis, MD
• Baked Beans: Considerations in AKI & ESRD
• Glands Gone Bad: Endocrine Emergencies
• Aortic Dissection: Are You Missing the Diagnosis?
Amal Mattu, MD
• From Paper to Patient: Recent Advances in Emergency Electrocardiography That Will Save a Life
• Myocardial Ischemia and Mimics: ECG Cases (2-hour workshop)
• Dysrhythmias and Syncope
• Acute Decompensated Heart Failure: Time-Critical Interventions
Mimi Lu, MD
• Pediatric Chest Pain and Syncope: Bad or Benign
• Pediatric DKA: Not Just Little People With Hyperglycemia
Elizabeth Clayborne, MD, MA
• InnovatED: Palliative Care Simulation
Wan-Tsu Wendy Chang, MD
• Cranial Nerves: When Is It an Emergency?
• Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On: Update on Seizure and Status Management
• 50 Shades of Gray Matter: Neuroimaging in the ED
Michael Bond, MD
• What's the Big Deal with FOAMed?
• Fast Facts: Must-Know Digital Health for Emergency Physicians

Michael Grasso, MD, PhD, and David Jerrard, MD, in collaboration with Clare Grasso, PhD, from UMBC’s Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, co-authored the article titled "Prescriptions Written for Opioid Pain Medication in the Veterans Health Administration Between 2000 and 2016," which was published in the November/December issue of the Journal of Addiction Medicine (2017;11[6]:483-8). The investigators used a national cohort that documented 2.5 billion outpatient visits, 18.9 million ED visits, and 12.4 million hospital admissions. The number of opioid prescriptions peaked in 2011, when they were written during 5% of outpatient visits and 15% of ED visits. By 2016, opioid prescriptions were down 37% in outpatient clinics and 23% in EDs. Prescriptions for hydrocodone and tramadol increased markedly between 2011 and 2015. Opioid doses in inpatients settings rose until 2015.