Each year in the US about six million people go to the emergency department with chest pain or other symptoms suggesting that they might be having a heart attack or other acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The vast majority of them do not have ACS, but because it is difficult to quickly rule out ACS many of them end…
Has CT Angiography Lived Up to Its Early Promise?
March 14, 2015 by Leave a Comment
When it first appeared more than a decade ago computed tomographic angiography (CTA) astounded cardiologists and other physicians. Until it came along the only way to check for blockages in the vital coronary arteries that supply the heart itself with blood was with cardiac catheterization, an expensive, highly invasive and unpleasant procedure. In the following years CTA (the…
High-Sensitivity Troponin Test Could Identify Low Risk Chest Pain Patients In The ED
March 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Approximately 15-20 million people in Europe and the United States go to the emergency department every year with chest pain. Many can be discharged early if they are not having an acute coronary syndrome. A large new single-center observational study, presented at the American College of Cardiology meeting in Washington, DC and published simultaneously in the Journal…
Little Difference In Chest Pain Between Men And Women
November 26, 2013 by 1 Comment
In recent years the medical community has grown increasingly concerned that women with heart attacks may be less likely to receive prompt and effective treatment. The difference between the sexes in the presentation of symptoms is thought to be a major barrier to better treatment for women. But now a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine finds…
Younger Women With Acute Coronary Syndromes Less Likely To Have Classic Chest Pain
September 17, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Younger women with an acute coronary syndrome are slightly less likely than men to present with the classic symptom of chest pain, according to a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. In recent years there has been a growing understanding that women with ACS are less likely to have chest pain and, partly as a result,…
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