BACKGROUND In patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), motor performance may be dramatically improved in urgent and stressful situations. OBJECTIVE The aim of this PET H(2)(15)O study was to determine the changes in brain activation pattern related to this unconscious increase in motor speed observed in the context of urgency in patients with PD. METHODS Eight right-handed patients with PD, ...

BACKGROUND Lower use of endoscopies and urgent referrals for suspected cancer has been linked to poorer outcomes for patients with cancer; it is important to examine potential predictors of variable use. AIM To examine the associations between general practice measures of patient experience and practice use of endoscopies or urgent referrals for suspected cancer. DESIGN AND SETTING Cross-se...

This paper describes the in-hospital outcome of urgent percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) with delayed PCI in patients suffering from non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE-ACS). The time when the PCI should be performed is still under debate. Results from 620 patients hospitalized in Silesian Centre of Heart Diseases in Zabrze in years 20022005 were included in this stu...

Paper goal is to determine complications after urgent surgical treatment of patient with penile fractures, by using circumferential-degloving technique (degloving penile skin to root of penis). In period between 1998-2006 year, 23 patients have been treated as urgent cases with clinically proven penis fracture, age between 18 and 35. Patients were treated in 3 medical centers in Bosnia and Herz...

OBJECTIVES Pediatric emergency department (PED) patients often present with non-urgent complaints. We attempted to estimate the perceived degree of urgency of the visit and to identify reasons for seeking non-urgent care in the PED by patients and parents. METHODS A prospective survey was completed by parents (for children 17 and younger) and patients (18-21) presenting to a suburban academic...

INTRODUCTION Alternative destination transportation by emergency medical services (EMS) is a subject of hot debate between those favoring all patients being evaluated by an emergency physician (EP) and those recognizing the need to reduce emergency department (ED) crowding. This study aimed to determine whether paramedics could accurately assess a patient's acuity level to determine the need to...

BACKGROUND Emergency endoscopy for every patient with upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage is not possible in many medical centers. Simple guidelines to select patients for emergency endoscopy are lacking. The aim of the present report is to develop a simple scoring system to classify upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage (UGIH) severity based on patient clinical profiles at the emergency departments....

OBJECTIVES General practitioner (GP)-led urgent care centres were established to meet the growing demand for urgent care. Staff members working in such centres are central in influencing patients' choices about which services they use, but little is known about staff perceptions of patients' motives for attending urgent care. We hence aimed to explore their perceptions of patients' motives for ...

OBJECTIVE For patients presenting with TIA, a previous study concluded that hospitalization is cost-effective compared to discharge without treatment from the emergency department. We performed a cost-effectiveness analysis of hospitalization vs urgent clinic evaluation following TIA. METHODS Among a cohort of TIA patients, we created a decision tree model to compare the decision to hospitali...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES This study's objective was to evaluate the association between health literacy and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) knowledge among patients seen at an inner-city, public hospital urgent care center (UCC). METHODS We used a prospective survey of patients offered an HIV test by their providers during a UCC visit. We measured p...