Nicola Jane Baker

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• Amini, R., Baker, N., Woolridge, D. P., Echeverria, A. B., Amini, A., & Adhikari, S. (2018). Emergency department diagnosis of an ovarian inguinal hernia in an 11-year-old female using point-of-care ultrasound. World journal of emergency medicine, 9(4), 291-293.
• Baker, N., Amini, R., Situ-LaCasse, E. H., Acuña, J., Nuño, T., Stolz, U., & Adhikari, S. (2018). Can emergency physicians accurately distinguish retinal detachment from posterior vitreous detachment with point-of-care ocular ultrasound?. The American journal of emergency medicine, 36(5), 774-776.
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  There is significant overlap between the symptoms of patients presenting with retinal detachment (RD) and posterior vitreous detachment (PVD). Urgency to obtain consultation and treatment are dependent on the ability to accurately distinguish these two conditions. The objective of this study was to determine the ability of emergency physicians to differentiate RDs from PVDs using point-of-care (POC) ocular ultrasound.
• Acuña, J., Adhikari, S., Amini, R., Baker, N., Nuño, T., Situ-LaCasse, E., & Stolz, U. (2017). Can emergency physicians accurately distinguish retinal detachment from posterior vitreous detachment with point-of-care ocular ultrasound?. American Journal of Emergency Medicine. doi:10.1016/j.ajem.2017.10.010
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  There is significant overlap between the symptoms of patients presenting with retinal detachment (RD) and posterior vitreous detachment (PVD). Urgency to obtain consultation and treatment are dependent on the ability to accurately distinguish these two conditions. The objective of this study was to determine the ability of emergency physicians to differentiate RDs from PVDs using point-of-care (POC) ocular ultrasound.Single blinded cross-sectional study at an academic medical center. Emergency physicians with varying ultrasound experience completed a brief tutorial on the sonographic findings of RD and PVD. Thirty POC ocular ultrasound clips obtained from ED patients with ocular symptoms were presented to emergency physicians. The sonographic findings in these clips were in agreement with the final diagnosis made by consultant ophthalmologists. There were 14 ultrasound videos showing PVD, 13 videos showing RD, and 3 normal ocular ultrasound videos. The subjects independently reviewed POC ocular ultrasound video clips and submitted their final interpretations.A total of 390 ocular video clips were reviewed by 13 emergency physicians. Overall, physicians were able to accurately diagnose the presence of a RD 74.6% (95%CI, 69.8-79.4) of the time, PVD 85.7% (95%CI, 77.6-93.8) of the time, and normal ultrasounds 94.9% (95%CI 87.3-100.0) of the time. There was no statistically significant relationship between correct diagnoses for ocular abnormalities or normal ultrasound images and number of previous ocular ultrasounds performed by emergency physicians.Emergency physicians were modestly accurate in distinguishing RD from PVD on POC ultrasound.
• Amini, R., Stolz, L. A., Hernandez, N. C., Gaskin, K., Baker, N., Sanders, A. B., & Adhikari, S. (2016). Sonography and hypotension: a change to critical problem solving in undergraduate medical education. Advances in medical education and practice, 7, 7-13.
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  Multiple curricula have been designed to teach medical students the basics of ultrasound; however, few focus on critical problem-solving. The objective of this study is to determine whether a theme-based ultrasound teaching session, dedicated to the use of ultrasound in the management of the hypotensive patient, can impact medical students' ultrasound education and provide critical problem-solving exercises.
• Amini, R., Stolz, L. A., Javedani, P. P., Gaskin, K., Baker, N., Ng, V., & Adhikari, S. (2016). Point-of-care echocardiography in simulation-based education and assessment. Advances in medical education and practice, 7, 325-8.
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  Emergency medicine milestones released by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education require residents to demonstrate competency in bedside ultrasound (US). The acquisition of these skills necessitates a combination of exposure to clinical pathology, hands-on US training, and feedback.
• Baker, N., Stolz, L. A., Sanders, A. B., Gaskin, K., Baker, N., Amini, R., & Adhikari, S. (2014). 320 Evaluation of Hypotension: A Theme-Based Approach to Teaching Point-of-Care Ultrasound to Medical Students. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 64(4), S113-S114. doi:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2014.07.348
• Stoneking, L., Deluca, L. A., Fiorello, A. B., Munzer, B., Baker, N., & Denninghoff, K. R. (2014). Alternative methods to central venous pressure for assessing volume status in critically ill patients. Journal of emergency nursing: JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association, 40(2), 115-23.
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  Early goal-directed therapy increases survival in persons with sepsis but requires placement of a central line. We evaluate alternative methods to measuring central venous pressure (CVP) to assess volume status, including peripheral venous pressure (PVP) and stroke volume variation (SVV), which may facilitate nurse-driven resuscitation protocols.
• Baker, N., & Woolridge, D. (2013). Emerging concepts in pediatric emergency radiology. Pediatric clinics of North America, 60(5), 1139-51.
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  Radiologic studies are a vital component in the workup and diagnosis of disease. An appropriate radiographic study will accurately rule in or rule out disease with the least possible harm. Special considerations are necessary for the imaging of children. Current trends in pediatric imaging support the increased use of ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging to decrease radiation exposure. In this review, we highlight some of the emerging concepts in the radiographic workup of pediatric disease, with a focus on decreasing ionizing radiation, increasing ultrasound use, and using clinical decision rules to identify children who do not need imaging.