Table 1.

Findings that may indicate CA etiology.

Organ System	Clinical Findings	Potential Etiology
Pulmonary	Diminished or abolished breath sounds	Unilateral: Pneumothorax, right mainstem intubation (left side less common) Bilateral: Pulmonary edema
Cardiovascular	New murmur	Papillary rupture, valve abnormality
	Unequal pulses or blood pressure	Aortic dissection
	Bradycardia	Toxidrome, hypoxia, hypo/hyperkalemia, hypo/hypercalcaemia, hypothermia, exogenous intoxication, acid-basic disturbances
	Tachycardia	Tachyarrhythmias, thyrotoxic storm
Abdomen	Distention/rigidity	Hemorrhage/inflammatory process
	Pulsatile mass	Aortic aneurism rupture
Extremity	Unilateral swelling/erythema	Pulmonary embolism, septic shock
	Hemodialysis fistula	Hyperkalemia
Skin	Cyanosis	Hypoxia, methemoglobinemia sulfhemoglobinemia
	Mottling, slow capillary refill	Septic shock, hemorrhagic shock
	IV injection sites	Drug overdose
	Open wounds/cellulitis	Septic shock
	Diffuse urticaria	Anaphylactic shock
Neurologic	Focal motor deficits	Stroke
	Global motor deficits	Toxidrome, hypoxic/anoxic brain injury