Concerns Over New Cardiac Blood Test Spark Intense Twitter Discussion

–Cardiologists fear the new high sensitivity troponin test will lead to lots of unnecessary testing. Along with many other cardiologists, Sek Kathiresan (Massachusetts General Hospital and Broad Institute) is worried that a new and improved diagnostic test will have disastrous unintended effects. Kathiresan expressed his concern on Twitter yesterday in response to my summary of a…

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Single Blood Test Rapidly Rules Out MI in Chest Pain

–New high-sensitivity troponin tests may ease perpetual ED dilemma Only a small percentage of emergency department chest pain patients turn out to have acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Now a new blood test can help identify a significant number of patients who are extremely unlikely to have AMI and who can therefore be safely discharged immediately….

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Troponin Test May Allow Rapid MI Rule-Out in the Emergency Department

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…

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Study Supports CT Angiography to Rule Out CAD in Chest-Pain Patients

Six million people each year in the US go to the emergency department (ED) with acute chest pain. Although only 10-15% of them turn out to have an acute coronary syndrome (ACS), most are admitted to the hospital. Coronary CT angiography (CCTA) has been proposed as a good method to quickly establish the presence or absence…

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