When: May 15–18
Where: JW Marriott, Indianapolis, Indiana

Intravenous Contrast Media Administration Is Not Associated with Increased Risk for Acute Kidney Injury in Patients with Sepsis

Where: 104 (First Floor)
When: Wednesday, May 16, 1:28-1:40 p.m.

Millions of doses of IV contrast media are administered each year, often for CT scans of patients. In the emergency department, IV contrast media can be essential to accurately diagnose certain acute critical conditions. However, physicians have had concerns that the contrast media causes serious kidney problems.

Nour Al Jalbout, M.D., resident in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will present findings showing IV contrast administration did not lead to an increased risk of kidney problems in ED patients with sepsis, a population with elevated risk of acute kidney injury. This is the first ever well-controlled study to determine independence in the relationship between IV contrast administration and acute kidney injury in septic patients, according to Al Jalbout. The study expands on a previous study led by Johns Hopkins emergency medicine researchers Jeremiah Hinson, M.D., Ph.D., and Eili Klein, Ph.D., both assistant professors of emergency medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and team, which did not find an association between intravenous contrast media use and acute kidney injury during a controlled design study of a broader ED population.

One in Four Die with Infections in South Africa: Implications for Emergency Department Management

Where: 102 (First Floor)
When: Thursday, May 17, 8:40-8:48 a.m.

Despite the breadth of evidence in the developed world, relatively little evidence on management of acute infections in the developing world exists, particularly in areas where HIV and TB are prevalent. 

Alexander Jenson, M.D., M.P.H., resident in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Bhakti Hansoti, M.B.Ch.B., assistant professor of emergency medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will present findings on what is believed to be the first prospective study in South Africa to describe the epidemiology and risk factors for mortality of patients who arrive at the emergency department with acute infectious illnesses. In a study at a district casualty ward in Mthatha, South Africa, the research team found that one in four patients with acute infectious illness, most of whom were positive for HIV, died within 30 days of arriving at the hospital.