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…
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…
Too Much Emphasis on Door-to-Balloon Time?
September 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
One of the great medical advances in recent years has been the improved treatment of acute myocardial infarction. As the enormous benefits of earlier reperfusion became evident, medical systems in many parts of the world aimed to treat increasing numbers of patients in a shorter time frame. The door-to-balloon (D2B) time as a performance measure…
Observation Units For Heart Failure Could Reduce Unnecessary Hospitalizations
January 9, 2013 by 1 Comment
Two new papers published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology propose that most heart failure (HF) patients who present to the emergency department (ED) don’t need to be hospitalized and can be safely managed in an observation unit. Currently, the vast majority of HF patients who show up in the ED are hospitalized…. Click…
Troponin Test May Allow Rapid MI Rule-Out in the Emergency Department
August 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment
More than three-quarters of people with chest pain can be triaged within an hour of arrival at the emergency department with a novel strategy utilizing high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTnT), according to a study from Switzerland published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The strategy is promising, according to anaccompanying editorial, but much work remains before it can be implemented…
ROMICAT-II Provokes Opposing Views On CT Angiography In The Emergency Department
July 25, 2012 by 1 Comment
For patients with suspected acute coronary syndromes (ACS) CT angiography (CTA) compared to standard treatment can reduce the time in the emergency department (ED), according to results of the ROMICAT-II (Rule Out Myocardial Infarction/Ischemia Using Computer-Assisted Tomography) trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine. However, CTA resulted in more tests being performed and…
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