Objectives

Objective: This study assessed the percentage and type of congenital anomalies diagnosed at first-trimester ultrasound (US) scan in a primary care setting without following a standardized protocol for fetal anatomical assessment. Materials and Methods: US scans performed between 11⁺⁰ and 13⁺⁶ weeks of gestation in pregnancies with estimated date of delivery between January 1, 2012 and January 1, 2016 were searched. Data were supplemented with results of 20-week scans and pregnancy outcome. Results: Of all scans, 38.6% were dating scans and 61.4% were part of first-trimester screening. Anomalies were diagnosed prenatally in 200 (1.8%) fetuses; 81 (0.7%) were chromosomal and 119 (1.1%) were structural. Of all prenatally detected anomalies, 27% (n = 32) were detected at first-trimester scan, with a false-positive rate of 0.04%. All cases of anencephaly (n = 4), encephalocele (n = 2), exomphalos (n = 9), megacystis (n = 4), and limb reduction (n = 1) were diagnosed. First-trimester detection of gastroschisis and congenital heart defects was 67 and 19%, respectively. Conclusion: In a primary care setting, global fetal anatomical assessment at first-trimester scan without following a standardized protocol detects about 30% of all structural anomalies and most of the severe anomalies, with an extremely low false-positive rate. We hypothesize that additional training and use of a systematic protocol would improve early detection of structural anomalies.

The epidemiology of pediatric snakebites is changing. One-half of the reported exposures were venomous, and copperhead bites and exotic species are being reported more frequently. Although snakebite-related deaths are rare, ICU admission is common. Antivenom treatment is incompletely reported, but its use is increasing.

The Toxicology Investigators Consortium (ToxIC) Case Registry was established in 2010 by the American College of Medical Toxicology. The Registry includes all medical toxicology consultations performed at participating sites. This report summarizes the Registry data for 2013. A query of the ToxIC Registry was carried out for the dates of January 1 through December 31, 2013. Specific data reviewed for analysis included demographics (age, gender), source of consultation, reasons for consultation, agents involved in toxicological exposures, signs, symptoms and clinical findings, and treatment. A total of 8,598 cases were entered into the Registry in 2013. Females accounted for 49.2 % of cases, males for 47.7 %, and gender was not reported in 3.1 %. The majority of patients (63.4 %) were adults between the ages of 19 and 65 years. There were 93 fatalities (1.1 %). Most referrals for medical toxicology consultation originated from the emergency department (59.7 %) or inpatient services (16.7 %). Exposures to pharmaceutical products (intentional and unintentional) made up 50.0 % of cases. Illicit drug abuse (8.0 %) and adverse drug reactions (ADRs) (4.8 %) were the next most frequent reasons for consultation. Similar to past years, nonopioid analgesics, sedative-hypnotics, and opioids were the most commonly encountered agents. Symptoms or clinical findings were documented in 71.1 % of patients. Of all cases, 54.6 % required some form of medical treatment (antidotes, antivenom, chelation, specific types of supportive care). This report serves as a comprehensive survey of medical toxicology practice within participating institutions. Prior trends continued to apply this year and indicate analgesic (opioid and nonopioid), sedativehypnotic/muscle relaxant agents, illicit drug use, and ADRs continue to be major toxicological problems. Cases requiring medical toxicology consultation in 2013 predominantly involved pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs. Reasons for these drug exposures were diverse and included intentional overdose, unintentional exposure, withdrawal syndromes, and ADRs. Nonopioid analgesics, sedative-hypnotic agents, and opioids remained the most frequently encountered agent classes. While over half of cases required some form of medical treatment, fatalities were uncommon.

In 2010, the American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT) established its Case Registry, the Toxicology Investigators Consortium (ToxIC). All cases are entered prospectively and include only suspected and confirmed toxic exposures cared for at the bedside by board-certified or boardeligible medical toxicologists at its participating sites. The primary aims of establishing this Registry include the development of a realtime toxico-surveillance system in order to identify and describe current or evolving trends in poisoning and to develop a research tool in toxicology. ToxIC allows for extraction of data from medical records from multiple sites across a national and international network. All cases seen by medical toxicologists at participating institutions were entered into the database. Information characterizing patients entered in 2012 was tabulated and data from the previous years including 2010 and 2011 were included so that cumulative numbers and trends could be described as well. The current report includes data through December 31st, 2012. During 2012, 38 sites with 68 specific institutions contributed a total of 7,269 cases to the Registry. The total number of cases entered into the Registry at the end of 2012 was 17,681. Emergency departments remained the most common source of consultation in 2012, accounting for 61 % of cases. The most common reason for consultation was for pharmaceutical overdose, which occurred in 52 % of patients including intentional (41 %) and unintentional (11 %) exposures. The most common classes of agents were sedative-hypnotics (1,422 entries in 13 % of cases) non-opioid analgesics (1,295 entries in 12 % of cases), opioids (1,086 entries in 10 % of cases) and antidepressants (1,039 entries in 10 % of cases). Nacetylcysteine (NAC) was the most common antidote administered in 2012, as it was in previous years, followed by the opioid antagonist naloxone, sodium bicarbonate, physostigmine and flumazenil. Anti-crotalid Fab fragments were administered in 109 cases or 82 % of cases in which a snake envenomation occurred. There were 57 deaths reported in the Registry in 2012. The most common associated agent alone or in combination was the non-opioid analgesic acetaminophen, being reported in 10 different cases. Other common agents and agent classes involved in death cases included ethanol, opioids, the anti-diabetic agent metformin, sedativeshypnotics and cardiovascular agents, in particular amlodipine. There were significant trends identified during 2012. Abuse of over-the-counter medications such as dextromethorphan remains prevalent. Cases involving dextromethorphan continued to be reported at frequencies higher than other commonly abused drugs including many stimulants, phencyclidine, synthetic cannabinoids and designer amphetamines such as bath salts. And, while cases involving synthetic cannabinoids and psychoactive bath salts remained relatively constant from 2011 to 2012 several designer amphetamines and novel psychoactive substances were first reported in the Regis...