Introduction: Ventricular ectopic beats and corrected QT interval (QTc) prolongation are both relatively common entities that are typically benign. It is difficult to predict subsequent dysrhythmias from either electrocardiogram (ECG) feature. The combination of both features may better predict the risk of torsades de pointes. We highlight a case of torsades preceded by a bizarre bigeminal rhythm with QTc prolongation likely caused by memantine use and hypokalemia. 

Case Report: An 84-year-old female presented to the emergency department with a fall. A syncope workup revealed an ECG demonstrating bigeminy with a prolonged QTc interval. Several minutes after obtaining the ECG, the patient went into torsades. She had multiple subsequent cardiac arrests during the rest of her hospital stay. This case report details the importance of recognizing ventricular bigeminy in the context of QTc prolongation as a harbinger of torsades. 

Conclusion: While premature ventricular contractions including bigeminy may be a benign finding, when accompanied by prolonged QTc intervals, they warrant immediate investigation and treatment of potential underlying pathology to prevent torsades and subsequent cardiac arrest. 

Introduction: Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a rare cause of myocardial infarction. Patients suffering SCAD are often young women without typical risk factors for atherosclerotic heart disease. Clinicians should maintain a high index of suspicion for SCAD.

Case series: We report three cases of patients with SCAD from a single physician in a six-month period. Each case is unique and highlights the varied presentations and epidemiological risk factors associated with this condition.

Discussion: We believe these cases are unique in that they provide insights into the variable presentations and conditions frequently associated with SCAD and will help clinicians maintain a high index of suspicion for this difficult to diagnose and rare cause of type 2 myocardial infarction. We discuss differences in interventional techniques and medical management.

Introduction: Effective medical education must balance clinical service demands for institutions and learning needs of trainees. The question of whether these are competing demands or can serve complementary roles has profound impacts on graduate medical education, ranging from funding decisions to the willingness of community-based hospitals and physicians to include learners at their clinical sites. Our objective in this article was to systematically review the evidence on the impact of medical trainees on productivity and efficiency in the emergency department (ED).

Methods: We queried PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science from earliest available dates to March 2023. We identified all studies evaluating the impact of medical students and/or residents in the ED on commonly used productivity and efficiency metrics. Only studies in EDs in the United States were included. No additional filters were used. We assessed the risk of bias of included studies using the Risk of Bias in Non-randomized Studies – of Interventions (ROBINS-I) tool. Certainty of evidence was rated using the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) approach. Study findings were combined in a narrative synthesis and reported according to PRISMA guidelines.

Results: The literature search yielded 3,390 unique articles for abstract screening. Eighty-one abstracts were identified as relevant to our PICO question (population, intervention, control, and outcomes), 76 of which had retrievable full-text articles and the themes of which were discussed in a narrative synthesis. We selected 13 of the full-text articles for final inclusion in a systematic review. Studies were roughly split between observational (6) and quasi-experimental (7) designs. The majority of studies (11) were single-site studies. Only two studies could be graded as low risk of bias per the ROBINS-I tool.

Conclusion: Low-GRADE evidence suggests that students and residents decrease ED efficiency by a statistically small effect size of debatable clinical importance. Residents provide a moderate boost to ED productivity. Students do not produce a statistically or clinically significant impact on ED productivity. Residents increase emergency department relative value units revenue by $26.30 an hour, while students have no impact. Both types of learners decrease efficiency.