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Heart failure leading to cardiac ascites is an extremely rare and underrecognized entity in clinical practice. Recognizing cardiac ascites can be difficult, especially since patients presenting with ascites may have more than 1 etiology. Various biomarkers are available to aid in the diagnosis of cardiac ascites, though with differing sensitivities and specificities. Such biomarkers include serum albumin, ascitic albumin and protein, as well as serum N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP). While serum NT-proBNP is a powerful biomarker in distinguishing the etiology of ascites and monitoring treatment progression, its cost can be prohibitive in low-resource settings. Clinicians practicing under these circumstances may opt to rely on other parameters to manage their patients. We go on further to report a series of 3 patients with cardiac ascites to illustrate how these biomarkers may be employed in the management of this patient population. Clinicians should always keep in mind the differential diagnosis of cardiac failure as a cause of ascites. The resolution of cardiac ascites may serve as a surrogate clinical marker for response to antifailure therapy in lieu of NT-proBNP at resource-scarce centers., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Rationale: Abdominal pain in pregnancy represents a demanding diagnostic challenge in the emergency department (ED) due to the extensive list of differential diagnoses to be considered, coupled with the possibility of each disease having nonclassical, atypical signs and symptoms, resultant from the patient's pregnant state. Additionally, emergency physicians (EPs) face limitations on investigative imaging modalities because of the need to minimize fetal radiation exposure. EPs have to tackle this diagnostic challenge while performing a balancing act to maximize both maternal and fetal outcomes in a time-sensitive manner, becauser any delays in decision-making at the ED may threaten the safety of mother and child. Two common causes of abdominal pain in pregnancy presenting to the ED are acute appendicitis and ectopic pregnancy. The latter is almost always diagnosed by 10 weeks of gestation. Here, we report an extremely rare case of unilateral live spontaneous twin tubal ectopic pregnancy presenting past 12 weeks of gestation, diagnosed after magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the abdomen., Patient Concerns: A 37-year-old gravida 2 para 1 at 12 weeks and 6 days of gestation presented to our ED with a 2-day history of right iliac fossa pain, not associated with vaginal bleeding, fever, diarrhea, and vomiting. On examination, she was tachycardic (pulse rate 124 beats/min) and hypertensive (blood pressure 142/88 mm Hg). There was marked tenderness and guarding at the lower abdomen., Diagnoses: Blood investigations were unremarkable, while abdominal ultrasonography found a live twin gestation with foetal heartbeats of 185 and 180 beats/min. MRI of the abdomen revealed an empty uterine cavity; 2 amniotic sacs and fetuses of diameter 10 cm, and a single placenta were noted in the right uterine adnexa. The patient was diagnosed with right live monochorionic diamniotic twin tubal pregnancy., Intervention: Our patient underwent emergency laparoscopic right salpingectomy., Outcomes: The operation was successful and her postoperative care remained uneventful up to discharge., Lessons: Ectopic pregnancy cannot be ruled out based on prior normal antenatal examinations and gestational age of >10 weeks. EPs should not hesitate to order MRI scans for further evaluation if ultrasonography and laboratory findings are equivocal.

Rationale: Abdominal aortic aneurysm is an extremely rare cause of deep vein thrombosis. Here we report an elderly gentleman who presented with deep vein thrombosis and was found to have concomitant abdominal aortic aneurysm upon ultrasonographic screening. It illustrates the possibility of such an aetiology, and the importance of screening for such aneurysms in a select patient population before heparinization., Patient Concerns: A 73-year-old Asian gentleman with underlying hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, chronic renal failure, and history of chronic smoking presented to the emergency department with acute left lower limb swelling of 1 day. On examination, the patient was tachycardic (110 beats/minute) and hypertensive (168/84 millimeters mercury (mmHg)). The entire left lower limb was swollen with notable pitting oedema, tenderness, and warmth; left calf swelling was measured to be 4 centimeters (cm)., Diagnoses: The patient's Wells score of 4 placed him in the high-risk group for deep vein thrombosis. Serum D-dimer was subsequently found to be elevated at 926 nanograms/milliliter (ng/ml). Compression ultrasonography revealed a thrombus in the left deep femoral vein, confirming the diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis. The ultrasonographic evaluation was extended to the abdominal aorta due to the patient's high risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm, and a 7-cm aneurysm was indeed found. Further computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging localized it to the infrarenal region, with left common iliac vein compression resulting in stagnant venous return., Interventions: Emergency endovascular repair was performed with insertion of an inferior vena cava filter., Outcomes: The patient was subsequently monitored in the intensive care unit and uneventfully discharged after 2 weeks., Lessons: Such clinical presentations of deep vein thrombosis are rare, but physicians are reminded to consider screening for abdominal aneurysms and other anatomical causes before heparinization in patients who seemingly do not have thromboembolic risk factors. This is especially so for the high risk group of male deep vein thrombosis patients aged 65-75 years with a history of smoking who have yet to be screened for abdominal aortic aneurysms, in line with United States Preventive Services Task Force recommendations.

Rationale: Diabetic ketoacidosis is a serious and potentially life-threatening acute complication of diabetes mellitus (DM). Euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis (eDKA) is however challenging to identify in the emergency department (ED) due to absence of marked hyperglycemia, often leading to delayed diagnosis and treatment. eDKA has been recently found to be associated with sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, one of the newest classes of antidiabetics, though there are very limited reports implicating dapagliflozin as the offending agent in ED patients. Here we report a type 2 diabetic patient who presented to the ED with eDKA secondary to dapagliflozin administration., Patient Concerns: A 61-year-old Asian female with underlying type 2 DM presented to our ED with body weakness, dyspnea, nausea, vomiting, and mild abdominal pain for the past 2 days. These symptoms were preceded by poor oral intake for 1 week due to severe toothache. Dapagliflozin was recently added to her antidiabetic drug regimen of metformin and glibenclamide 2 weeks ago., Diagnoses: Arterial blood gases showed a picture of severe metabolic acidosis with an elevated anion gap, while ketones were elevated in blood and positive in urine. Blood glucose was mildly elevated at 180 mg/dL. Serum lactate levels were normal. Our patient was thus diagnosed with eDKA., Intervention: Our patient was promptly admitted to the intensive care unit and treated for eDKA through intravenous rehydration therapy with insulin infusion., Outcomes: Serial blood gas analyses showed gradual resolution of the patient's ketoacidosis with normalized anion gap and clearance of serum ketones. She was discharged uneventfully on day 4, with permanent cessation of dapagliflozin administration., Lessons: Life-threatening eDKA as a complication of dapagliflozin is a challenging and easilymissed diagnosis in the ED. Such an ED presentation is very rare, nevertheless emergency physicians are reminded to consider the diagnosis of eDKA in a patient whose drug regimen includes any SGLT2 inhibitor, especially if the patient presents with nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dyspnea, lethargy, and is clinically dehydrated. These patients should then be investigated with ketone studies and blood gas analyses regardless of blood glucose levels for prompt diagnosis and treatment.