1. Chest pain with less than 20% change in high sensitivity troponin T - a low risk cohort?
- Author
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Weir RAP, Osmanska J, Docherty KF, and Petrie CJ
- Subjects
- Acute Coronary Syndrome complications, Aged, Chest Pain etiology, Cohort Studies, Coronary Artery Disease complications, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Retrospective Studies, Risk Assessment, Acute Coronary Syndrome blood, Acute Coronary Syndrome diagnosis, Chest Pain blood, Coronary Artery Disease blood, Coronary Artery Disease diagnosis, Troponin T blood
- Abstract
Background: Patients with chest pain are risk-stratified using serial high-sensitivity troponin (T) assays (hsTnT). Those with change in (Δ)hsTnT <20% are often categorised as low-risk and are less likely to be managed as acute coronary syndromes (ACS). We sought to characterise such a population of 'low-risk' chest pain presenters. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of sequential patients admitted to our centre over a 1-year period with chest pain, absence of ST-elevation, with elevated hsTnT concentrations, and compared demographic, clinical and outcome data according to ΔhsTnT. Results: Three hundred and eleven patients were subdivided by ΔhsTnT [<20% ( n = 80), 20-100% ( n = 78), >100% ( n = 153)]. Baseline demographic data were well-matched across the three subgroups; atrial fibrillation was more common in the two lower magnitude ΔhsTnT groups. Obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) - while less common in those with ΔhsTnT <20% (66.2%) compared to the 20-100% (73.1%) and >100% (75.9%) groups ( p = 0.03) - remained high in this lower risk group, and indeed revascularisation occurred in >60% of patients, equally frequently in all three groups. Using absolute ΔhsTnT ≥9ng/L within the ΔhsTnT <20% group provided incremental value in ruling in ACS, with a positive predictive value of 74.1%. ΔhsTnT was a univariate but not a multivariate predictor of obstructive CAD. Conclusions: Obstructive CAD and need for revascularisation are frequent in chest pain presenters with ΔhsTnT <20%. The increasing focus on hsTnT algorithms to exclude ACS and promote early discharge without adequate clinical risk stratification modelling risks misdiagnosis of patients presenting with acute myocardial ischaemia with a low-level hsTnT rise.
- Published
- 2020
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