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Objectives: The analytical sensitivity of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hsTnT) assays has enabled rapid myocardial infarction rule-out algorithms for emergency department (ED) presentations. Few studies have analyzed the real-world impact of hsTnT algorithms on outcomes and operations.Methods: Comparison of ED length of stay (LOS) and 30-day outcomes (return to ED, inpatient admission, and mortality) for patients presenting with chest pain during 2 separate 208-day periods using a 0/1-hour hsTnT-enabled algorithm or fourth-generation TnT.Results: Discharge, 30-day readmission, and 30-day mortality rates were not significantly different with fourth-generation TnT vs hsTnT. Thirty-day return rates were significantly decreased with hsTnT (17.4% vs 14.9%; P < .01). For encounters with TnT measured at least twice and resulting in discharge, median ED LOS decreased by 61 minutes with the use of hsTnT (488 vs 427 minutes; P < .0001). Median time between first and second TnT results decreased by 82 minutes with hsTnT (202 vs 120 minutes; P < .0001), suggesting that the 0/1-hour algorithm was incompletely adopted.Conclusions: Implementation of the hsTnT algorithm was associated with decreased 30-day return rates and decreased ED LOS for a subset of patients, despite incomplete adoption of the 0/1-hour algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Case Presentation: A 20-year-old woman presented with dry cough, right-sided thoracic pain, and gradually progressive dyspnea on exertion. She had no hemoptysis or fever. There was no relevant medical history. She was a never smoker and used no medication besides oral contraceptives. There were no other risk factors for a pulmonary embolism. There was a family history of ovarian and breast cancer. Physical examination showed a mildly ill-looking woman, with shallow breathing and normal blood oxygen saturation. Auscultation revealed normal breath sounds without crackles or wheezing. Laboratory testing showed a significantly increased D-dimer (4,560 μg/L [normal, < 500 μg/L]), elevated C-reactive protein (131 mg/L [normal, < 5 mg/L]), normal leucocytes, and elevated lactate dehydrogenase (825 units/L [normal, 50 to 250 units/L). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Thoracic solitary fibrous tumors (SFTs) are usually pleural-based lesions and diagnosed incidentally. The authors, hereby, report two cases of symptomatic SFT of the pleura with locally aggressive potential. Case 1 A 63-year-old male patient presented with chief complaints of dyspnea at rest and thoracic pain. Computed tomography scan revealed a mass of the right visceral pleura with multiloculated pleural effusion. Microscopic examination with immunostaining of the resected mass confirmed the diagnosis of malignant SFT. Local recurrence occurred after 5 months. Case 2 A 32-year-old patient had a massive tumor of the left hemithorax, invading the descending aorta and thoracic vertebrae, causing a shifting of the heart and mediastinum. A needle transcutaneous biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of SFT. Considering the respiratory failure, surgical treatment was preceded by a general preparation. The patient died few days before the operation owing to respiratory distress. Conclusion This paper sustains the heterogeneity of these tumors. SFT of the pleura could have malignant potential at first presentation or in a young patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP) is a novel marker of myocardial injury, released rapidly (<1 h) after the onset of myocardial injury and plays an important role in both early diagnoses of high-risk patients presenting with chest pain as well as an early reperfusion marker in post-thrombolytic patients. We aim to assess and compare the efficacy of H-FABP as an early marker of cardiac injury with Troponin I (cTnI) and creatinine Phospholinase Kinase (CPK-MB) and to correlate it with Left ventricular Ejection Fraction (LVEF)and percentage of stenosis in Coronary arteries. Material and Methods: Total of 300 patients (STEMI 150 and NSTEMI 150) with acute chest pain attending the emergency department within 6 hours after the onset of chest pain were included. Peripheral venous blood samples were obtained on admission, post thrombolysis at 60 minutes, and after 6 and 12 hours to measure a panel of conventional biomarkers FABP, cTnI and CPK. Echocardiography assessed Simpson’s LVEF and Trans mitral Doppler flow and the spectrum of coronary artery disease was defined by Coronary Angiography. Conclusion: FABP could reliably diagnose AMI patients 1 to 3 hours after admission over CPK MB and Troponin I and could also assess post-thrombolysis reperfusion in STEMI patients noninvasively over coronary angiography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A significant number of chest pain patients had previous cardiac imaging tests (CIT) performed before being presented to the Emergency Department (ED). The HEART (history, electrocardiogram, age, risk factors, and troponin) score has been used to risk-stratify chest pain patients in the ED, but not particularly for patients with CIT performed. We aim to modify the current HEART score with the addition of most recent CIT findings (referred to as HEART2 score), to predict a 30-day major adverse cardiac event (MACE) among ED chest pain patients, compare the performance accuracy of using HEART versus HEART2 score for 30-day MACE outcome predictions, and further determine the value of HEART2 in a subset group of ED chest pain patients (i.e., ones with previous CIT).Methods: This is a single-center observational study. We included chest pain patients with HEART scores calculated during their index ED visits. A modified HEART2 score was developed with the addition of CIT findings as one of the HEART2 components. Patients were divided into three groups, including low (≤ 3), moderate (4-6), and high-risk HEART/HEART2 scores (≥ 7). MACE occurrence of a patient with different risks of HEART and HEART2 scores and overall performance accuracy of HEART versus HEART2 score predicting MACE outcomes were compared.Results: We included a total of 9419 chest pain patients at ED, among which one out of five patients (1874/9419) had previous CIT performed. Fewer (38.2%) of such patients had low-risk HEART scores in comparison to 55.5% of low-risk HEART2 scores (p < 0.001). The MACE outcomes were similar in low-risk HEART patients compared with low-risk HEART2 patients (2.2% versus 3.1%, p = 0.3021). The overall performance accuracy of using the HEART2 score to stratify chest pain patients with previous CIT was better than using the HEART score's (AUC 0.74 versus 0.71, p = 0.0082).Conclusions: Using the HEART2 score might be suitable to stratify low-to-moderate risk chest pain patients at ED with a similar 30-days MACE occurrence compared to the HEART score. More importantly, with the use of similar low-risk criteria (HEART2 ≤ 3), over 45% more chest pain patients with previous CIT performed could be discharged directly from ED. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We investigated which factors predict late presentation (LP) to the emergency department (ED) in patients with non-traumatic chest pain (CP).Methods: All CP cases attended at a single ED (2008-2017) were included. LP was considered if time from CP onset to ED arrival was>6 h. We analyzed associations between 42 patient/CP-related characteristics and LP in the whole cohort and in patients with CP due to acute coronary syndrome (ACS).Results: The cohort included 25,693 cases (LP=50.6%; ACS=19.0%). Twenty factors were associated with LP, and 8 were also found in patients with ACS: CP of short-duration, aggravated by exertion or breathing/movement, undulating or recurrent CP increased the risk of LP, whereas CP accompanied by diaphoresis, irradiated to the throat, and chronic treatment with nitrates decreased the risk of LP. Exertional and recurrent CP were associated with both, LP and ACS.Conclusion: Some characteristics, mainly CP-related, may lead to LP to the ED. CP aggravated by exercise and recurrent CP were associated with both LP and a final diagnosis of ACS.Practice Implications: Patient educational initiatives should consider these two features as potential warnings for ACS and thereby encourage patients to seek early medical consultation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Chest pain is a large health care burden in Australia and around the world. Its management requires specialist assessment and diagnostic tests, which can be costly and often lead to unnecessary hospital admissions. There is a growing unmet clinical need to improve the efficiency and management of chest pain. This study aims to show the cost-benefit of rapid access chest pain clinics (RACC) as an alternative to hospital admission.Design: Retrospective cost-benefit analysis for 12 months.Setting: RACCs in three Sydney tertiary referral hospitals.Main Outcome Measures: Cost per patient.Results: Hospitals A, B and C implemented RACCs but each operating with slightly different staffing, referral patterns, and diagnostic services. All RACCs had similar costs per patient of AUD$455.25, AUD$427.12 and AUD$474.45, hospitals A, B and C respectively, and similar cost benefits per patient of AUD$1,168.75, AUD$1,196.88 and AUD$1,149.55, respectively. At least 28%, 26% and 29% of these RACC patients for hospitals A, B, and C, respectively, would have otherwise had to have been admitted to hospital for the model to be cost-beneficial.Conclusion: This study shows that a RACC model of care is cost-beneficial in the state of NSW as an alternative strategy to inpatient care for managing chest pain. Scaling up to a national level could represent an even larger benefit for the Australian health system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article summarizes the 2021 American Heart Association (AHA)/American College of Cardiology (ACC) Chest Pain Guidelines from the perspective of the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (SCMR). The guidelines recommend the reasonable discharge of the patient home without hospitalization or urgent cardiac testing for low-risk coronary artery disease (CAD). Also mentioned is the disagreement over the recommendations for fractional flow reserve (FFR)-computed tomography (CT).

Introduction: The HEART scoring system codifies the clinical gestalt used by physicians with 0-2 points assigned to 5 criteria (history, electrocardiography, age, risk factors and troponin). This scoring provides a prognostic tool that assists in disposition planning. The use of a truncated HEART score, minus the troponin data (HEAR score), was used for patients presenting with chest pain at one of four outpost nursing stations served by La Ronge Health Centre in northern Saskatchewan. These nursing stations have no onsite physician and no ability to obtain any troponin data. This study set out to determine if there was any utility in conducting point-of-care (PoC) troponins in these nursing outposts. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted using the La Ronge regional electronic medical record by searching for all patients for whom an outpost nurse had called a physician regarding chest pain symptoms between 01 January 2011 and 31 December 2016. The HEAR and HEART score were then calculated for each individual presentation of patients with chest pain that met inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: By calculating both the patient's HEART score before evacuation from the outposts and after (i.e. with the troponin data), we were able to determine that, in 89.4% of cases (110/123 events), patients would require evacuation regardless of the troponin values due to a HEART score ≥4. In 10.6% (13/124 events) of cases, the patients who were evacuated had a HEART score ≤3, and in only one case did the troponin data increase this score. Conclusions: The majority of patients would continue to be evacuated regardless of the result of their PoC troponin due to an already elevated HEAR score. PoC troponin is unlikely to reduce the rate of evacuation of patients with chest pain from the nursing stations served by the La Ronge Health Centre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronary risk scores, such as History, Electrocardiogram, Age, Risk Factors, and Troponin (HEART) and Emergency Department Assessment of Chest Pain Score (EDACS) scores, help nurses identify suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients who have a risk for major adverse cardiac events (MACE) within 30 days., Aim: To compare the accuracy of HEART and EDACS scores in predicting major events among patients suspected of ACS in the cardiac emergency department (ED)., Design and Methods: A prospective correlational observational study design was performed on cardiac ED patients who presented with suspected ACS., Tools: Three tools were utilized to collect data pertinent to the study: Tool I comprises patients' assessment (personal characteristics, risk factors for ACS, and chest pain assessment sheet); Tool II is the risk assessment tool that includes HEART and EDACS scores; and Tool III is MACE incidence among studied patients within 30 days., Results: HEART score was significantly (P < .01) higher among patients for whom MACE was present than absent. However, EDACS score showed no significant difference (P > .05) among patients whose MACE was present or absent. HEART risk score >6 correctly predicted MACE cases with sensitivity and specificity of 77.46% and 48.28%, respectively. However, EDACS score >18 correctly predicted MACE cases with sensitivity and specificity of 42.25% and 75.86%, respectively., Conclusion: This study concludes that HEART score has better sensitivity than EDACS in predicting MACE among suspected ACS patients at the cardiac ED. The HEART score provides the nurses with a quicker and more reliable predictor of MACE shortly after the arrival of the suspected ACS patients at the cardiac ED than the EDACS score. The study recommended the implementation of a HEART score in the cardiac ED for predicting MACE in suspected ACS patients. Follow up closely for high-risk patients to MACE. An educational program should be made for nurses about the implementation of the heart score in the cardiac ED., Competing Interests: The author has no conflicts of interest in the manuscript, including financial, consultant, institutional, and other relationships that might lead to bias or a conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Multiple decision-aiding models are available to help physicians identify acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and accelerate the decision-making process in emergency departments (EDs). This study evaluated the diagnostic performance of the Manchester Acute Coronary Syndrome (MACS) rule and its derivations, enhancing the evidence for their clinical use. A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed. Medline, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched from inception until October 2023 for studies including adult ED patients with suspected cardiac chest pain and inconclusive findings requiring ACS risk-stratification. The predictive value of MACS, Troponin-only MACS (T-MACS), or History and Electrocardiogram-only MACS (HE-MACS) decision aids for diagnosing acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and 30-day major adverse cardiac outcomes (MACEs) among patients admitted to ED with chest pain suspected of ACS. Overall sensitivity and specificity were synthesized using the 'Diagma' package in STATA statistical software. Applicability and risk of bias assessment were performed using the QUADAS-2 tool. For AMI detection, MACS has a sensitivity of 99% [confidence interval (CI): 97-100], specificity of 19% (CI: 10-32), and AUC of 0.816 (CI: 0.720-0.885). T-MACS shows a sensitivity of 98% (CI: 98-99), specificity of 35% (CI: 29-42), and AUC of 0.859 (CI: 0.824-0.887). HE-MACS exhibits a sensitivity of 99% (CI: 98-100), specificity of 9% (CI: 3-21), and AUC of 0.787 (CI: 0.647-0.882). For MACE detection, MACS demonstrates a sensitivity of 98% (CI: 94-100), specificity of 22% (CI: 10-42), and AUC of 0.804 (CI: 0.659-0.897). T-MACS displays a sensitivity of 96% (CI: 94-98), specificity of 36% (CI: 30-43), and AUC of 0.792 (CI: 0.748-0.830). HE-MACS maintains a sensitivity of 99% (CI: 97-99), specificity of 10% (CI 6-16), and AUC of 0.713 (CI: 0.625-0.787). Of all the MACS models, T-MACS displayed the highest overall accuracy due to its high sensitivity and significantly superior specificity. T-MACS exhibits very good diagnostic performance in predicting both AMI and MACE. This makes it a highly promising tool for managing patients with acute chest pain., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary cooperative first aid model in the process of establishing a chest pain center specializing in acute aortic dissection (AD)., Design: A quality improvement report., Methods: A total of 142 patients with acute aortic dissection treated before and after the optimization of the chest pain center process in our hospital were included. According to their admission time: the group before the optimization process was designated as the control group (66 cases) and the group after the optimization process was the intervention group (76 cases). The control group received conventional emergency treatment, while the intervention group received treatment through a multidisciplinary cooperative first aid model. The treatment times for both groups were compared: the time from first medical contact(FMC) to completion of an electrocardiogram (ECG), the diagnosis time, and the time spent in the emergency department., Results: The research findings revealed that the intervention group had significantly shorter times for FMC-to-ECG, diagnosis time, and emergency stay compared to the control group (P < 0.001)., Conclusion: Our findings indicate that by optimizing the multidisciplinary cooperative first aid model and procedures, the treatment of patients has indeed been effectively ensured, achieving safety outcomes., Implications for Clinical Practice: For chest pain centers, we suggest that to use multidisciplinary cooperative first aid model to get repaid and definite diagnosis of various causes of chest pain. A bedside transthoracic echocardiography is recommended to use in order to identify AD before proceeding with further treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis (APSGN) is the most common glomerulonephritis of childhood, and clinical presentation can vary widely. This case report presents an atypical manifestation of APSGN in an 8-year-old female patient with pleuritic chest pain and elevated troponin-I, despite lacking classical kidney symptoms. Imaging studies showed cardiomegaly and interstitial lung opacities. Further investigations revealed hematuria and proteinuria, and the diagnosis was confirmed through elevated antistreptolysin-O (ASO) titers and low complement 3 (C3) levels. The patient was successfully managed with fluid restriction, diuretics, and antihypertensives, resulting in the resolution of symptoms and normalization of laboratory values. This case highlights the significance of recognizing atypical manifestations of APSGN for ensuring prompt diagnosis and proper management in the pediatric population., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to International Pediatric Nephrology Association.)

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Aim: This executive summary of the clinical practice guideline for the evaluation and diagnosis of chest pain provides recommendations and algorithms for clinicians to assess and diagnose chest pain in adult patients.Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted from November 11, 2017, to May 1, 2020, encompassing studies, reviews, and other evidence conducted on human subjects that were published in English from PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Collaboration, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reports, and other relevant databases. Additional relevant studies, published through April 2021, were also considered. Structure: Chest pain is a frequent cause for emergency department visits in the United States. The "2021 AHA/ACC/ASE/CHEST/SAEM/SCCT/SCMR Guideline for the Evaluation and Diagnosis of Chest Pain" provides recommendations based on contemporary evidence on the assessment and evaluation of chest pain. These guidelines present an evidence-based approach to risk stratification and the diagnostic workup for the evaluation of chest pain. Cost-value considerations in diagnostic testing have been incorporated and shared decision-making with patients is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This clinical practice guideline for the evaluation and diagnosis of chest pain provides recommendations and algorithms for clinicians to assess and diagnose chest pain in adult patients.Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted from November 11, 2017, to May 1, 2020, encompassing randomized and nonrandomized trials, observational studies, registries, reviews, and other evidence conducted on human subjects that were published in English from PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Collaboration, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reports, and other relevant databases. Additional relevant studies, published through April 2021, were also considered. Structure: Chest pain is a frequent cause for emergency department visits in the United States. The "2021 AHA/ACC/ASE/CHEST/SAEM/SCCT/SCMR Guideline for the Evaluation and Diagnosis of Chest Pain" provides recommendations based on contemporary evidence on the assessment and evaluation of chest pain. This guideline presents an evidence-based approach to risk stratification and the diagnostic workup for the evaluation of chest pain. Cost-value considerations in diagnostic testing have been incorporated, and shared decision-making with patients is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The incidence of adverse perioperative cardiac complications after parathyroidectomy has not been well described. This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of perioperative chest pain and cardiac complications after parathyroidectomy and to evaluate risk factors that may identify patients who are more likely to benefit from a cardiac workup.Methods: We performed a retrospective study of all patients undergoing parathyroidectomy for primary hyperparathyroidism by a single endocrine surgeon at a tertiary endocrine centre between 2011 and 2018. Patient demographics, clinicopathologic variables, operative and postoperative details (reported chest pain, performance of a cardiac workup and new postoperative cardiac diagnosis) were reviewed. Patients with chest pain were compared to those without chest pain using the Fisher exact test and Student t test.Results: Fourteen of 295 patients (4.7%) reported chest pain in the immediate postoperative period. Most patients were investigated with a 12-lead electrocardiogram and troponin (n = 12/14), yet none were diagnosed with a cardiac event. When comparing patients with and without chest pain, there was no significant difference in age, gender, body mass index, presence of cardiovascular risk factors, American Society of Anesthesiologists score or length of surgery.Conclusion: Postoperative chest pain after parathyroidectomy is not an uncommon event and leads to a cardiac workup in most cases; however, the risk of significant postoperative cardiac events is minimal. In the "choosing wisely" era, one should evaluate each patient's pretest probability of such events and avoid extensive workup in low-risk patients to avoid unnecessary costs to the health care system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS-2002) scale is a rapid and effective screening instrument that assesses nutritional risk among hospitalized patients. Objective: The present study aimed to explore the prognostic value of the NRS-2002 scale in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) considering its uncertain role in this particular condition. Methods : Patients with AMI included in the Retrospective Multicenter Study for Early Evaluation of Acute Chest Pain were investigated. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional hazards models were used to analyze the association between NRS-2002 and mortality in patients with AMI. The primary and secondary endpoints were all-cause and cardiac mortality during the follow-up period. Results : A total of 2307 patients were enrolled, among whom 246 (10.7%) died within a median follow-up duration of 10.67 (8.04-14.33) months. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that patients with an NRS-2002 score of 3 or higher had poorer cumulative survival than those with an NRS-2002 score lower than 3 (P <.001). In the multivariate Cox regression analysis, patients with an NRS-2002 score of 3 or higher had more than double the risk for all-cause mortality (hazard ratio, 2.25; 95% confidence interval, 1.50-3.40; P <.001) and twice the risk for cardiac-related mortality (hazard ratio, 2.01; 95% confidence interval, 1.29-3.13; P =.002) than did patients with lower scores. Conclusions : Our results showed that the NRS-2002 screening instrument was an independent prognostic predictor for both all-cause and cardiac mortality in patients with AMI. Nutritional risk assessment based on the NRS-2002 scale may provide useful prognostic information of early nutritional risk stratification in patients with AMI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article by Zhao et al. titled "Associations of Triglyceride-Glucose (TyG) Index with Chest Pain Incidence and Mortality among the U.S. Population" provides valuable insights into the positive correlation between the TyG index and chest pain incidence, as well as a nonlinear relationship with mortality. However, the use of the COX proportional hazards model in their analysis presents several limitations. The assumption of constant hazard ratios over time may not hold, potentially leading to biased estimates. The model's struggle with time-dependent covariates and the possibility of residual confounding are notable concerns. Additionally, the study's subgroup analyses might suffer from reduced statistical power, and potential interactions with other metabolic markers were not explored. Considering these limitations, future research should adopt alternative approaches, such as time-varying covariate models, to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between the TyG index and cardiovascular outcomes., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objective: In acute chest pain management, risk stratification tools, including medical history, are recommended. We compared the fraction of patients with sufficient clinical data obtained using computerized history taking software (CHT) versus physician-acquired medical history to calculate established risk scores and assessed the patient-by-patient agreement between these 2 ways of obtaining medical history information., Materials and Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of clinically stable patients aged ≥ 18 years presenting to the emergency department (ED) at Danderyd University Hospital (Stockholm, Sweden) in 2017-2019 with acute chest pain and non-diagnostic ECG and serum markers. Medical histories were self-reported using CHT on a tablet. Observations on discrete variables in the risk scores were extracted from electronic health records (EHR) and the CHT database. The patient-by-patient agreement was described by Cohen's kappa statistics., Results: Of the total 1000 patients included (mean age 55.3 ± 17.4 years; 54% women), HEART score, EDACS, and T-MACS could be calculated in 75%, 74%, and 83% by CHT and in 31%, 7%, and 25% by EHR, respectively. The agreement between CHT and EHR was slight to moderate (kappa 0.19-0.70) for chest pain characteristics and moderate to almost perfect (kappa 0.55-0.91) for risk factors., Conclusions: CHT can acquire and document data for chest pain risk stratification in most ED patients using established risk scores, achieving this goal for a substantially larger number of patients, as compared to EHR data. The agreement between CHT and physician-acquired history taking is high for traditional risk factors and lower for chest pain characteristics., Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03439449., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association.)

Objectives: The aim of this early-stage Health Technology Assessment (HTA) was to assess the difference in healthcare costs and effects of fractional flow reserve derived from coronary computed tomography (FFRct) compared to standard diagnostics in patients with stable chest pain in The Netherlands., Methods: A decision-tree model was developed to assess the difference in total costs from the hospital perspective, probability of correct diagnoses, and risk of major adverse cardiovascular events at one year follow-up. One-way sensitivity analyses were conducted to determine the main drivers of the cost difference between the strategies. A threshold analysis on the added price of FFRct analysis (computational analysis only) was conducted., Results: The mean one-year costs were €2,680 per patient for FFRct and €2,915 per patient for standard diagnostics. The one-year probability of correct diagnoses was 0.78 and 0.61, and the probability of major adverse cardiovascular events was 1.92x10-5 and 0.01, respectively. The probability and costs of revascularization and the specificity of coronary computed tomography angiography had the greatest effect on the difference in costs between the strategies. The added price of FFRct analysis should be below €935 per patient to be considered the least costly option., Conclusions: The early-stage HTA findings suggest that FFRct may reduce total healthcare spending, probability of incorrect diagnoses, and major adverse cardiovascular events compared to current diagnostics for patients with stable chest pain in the Dutch healthcare setting over one year. Future cost-effectiveness studies should determine a value-based pricing for FFRct and quantify the economic value of the anticipated therapeutic impact., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Boot et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: Aspirin, an effective, low-cost pharmaceutical, can significantly reduce mortality if used promptly after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, many AMI survivors do not receive aspirin within a few hours of symptom onset. Our aim was to quantify the mortality benefit of self-administering aspirin at chest pain onset, considering the increased risk of bleeding and costs associated with widespread use., Methods and Results: We developed a population simulation model to determine the impact of self-administering 325 mg aspirin within 4 hours of severe chest pain onset. We created a synthetic cohort of adults ≥ 40 years old experiencing severe chest pain using 2019 US population estimates, AMI incidence, and sensitivity/specificity of chest pain for AMI. The number of annual deaths delayed was estimated using evidence from a large, randomized trial. We also estimated the years of life saved (YOLS), costs, and cost per YOLS. Initiating aspirin within 4 hours of severe chest pain onset delayed 13 016 (95% CI, 11 643-14 574) deaths annually, after accounting for deaths due to bleeding (963; 926-1003). This translated to an estimated 166 309 YOLS (149391-185 505) at the cost of $643 235 (633 944-653 010) per year, leading to a cost-effectiveness ratio of $3.70 (3.32-4.12) per YOLS., Conclusions: For <$4 per YOLS, self-administration of aspirin within 4 hours of severe chest pain onset has the potential to save 13 000 lives per year in the US population. Benefits of reducing deaths post-AMI outweighed the risk of bleeding deaths from aspirin 10 times over.

Background: Chest pain is among the most common reasons for presentation to the emergency department (ED) worldwide. Additional studies on most cost-effective ways of differentiating serious vs. benign causes of chest pain are needed., Objectives: Our study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a novel risk stratification pathway utilizing 5 th generation high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T assay (Hs-cTnT) and HEART score (History, Electrocardiogram, Age, Risk factors, Troponin) in assessing nontraumatic chest pain patients in reducing ED resource utilization., Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed 6 months prior to and after the implementation of a novel risk stratification pathway that combined hs-cTnT with HEART score to guide evaluation of adult patients presenting with nontraumatic chest pain at a large academic quaternary care ED. Primary outcome was ED length of stay (LOS); secondary outcomes included cardiology consult rates, admission rates, number of ED boarders, and number of eloped patients., Results: A total of 1707 patients and 1529 patients were included pre- and postimplementation, respectively. Median overall ED LOS decreased from 317 to 286 min, an absolute reduction of 31 min (95% confidence interval 22-41 min), after pathway implementation (p < 0.001). Furthermore, cardiology consult rate decreased from 26.9% to 16.0% (p < 0.0001), rate of admission decreased from 30.1% to 22.7% (p < 0.0001), and number of ED boarders as a proportion of all nontraumatic chest pain patients decreased from 25.13% preimplementation to 18.63% postimplementation (p < 0.0001)., Conclusions: Implementation of our novel chest pain pathway improved numerous ED throughput metrics in the evaluation of nontraumatic chest pain patients., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Wellens syndrome, an ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) equivalent, is also known as T-wave left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery disease. Wellens syndrome is characterized by a unique electrocardiogram (ECG) pattern that suggests a significant stenosis in the left anterior descending coronary artery that warrants immediate intervention. Hereby, we present a case report of Wellens syndrome in a patient with a history of hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) that may be potentially mistaken for pseudo- Wellens syndrome because the ECG pattern mimics left ventricular strain pattern (LVSP) in left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Thus, cautious examination of recent chest pain and ECG is important to differentiate Wellens syndrome and LVSP in patients with hypertension and COPD to perform early detection and aggressive intervention since they may help to lessen the adverse results.

Background and Importance: There seems to be evidence of gender and ethnic bias in the early management of acute coronary syndrome. However, whether these differences are related to less severe severity assessment or to less intensive management despite the same severity assessment has not yet been established., Objective: To show whether viewing an image with characters of different gender appearance or ethnic background changes the prioritization decision in the emergency triage area., Methods: The responders were offered a standardized clinical case in an emergency triage area. The associated image was randomized among eight standardized images of people presenting with chest pain and differing in gender and ethnic appearance (White, Black, North African and southeast Asian appearance)., Outcome Measures and Analysis: Each person was asked to respond to a single clinical case, in which the priority level [from 1 (requiring immediate treatment) to 5 (able to wait up to 2 h)] was assessed visually. Priority classes 1 and 2 for vital emergencies and classes 3-5 for nonvital emergencies were grouped together for analysis., Results: Among the 1563 respondents [mean age, 36 ± 10 years; 867 (55%) women], 777 (50%) were emergency physicians, 180 (11%) emergency medicine residents and 606 (39%) nurses. The priority levels for all responses were 1-5 : 180 (11%), 686 (44%), 539 (34%), 131 (9%) and 27 (2%). There was a higher reported priority in male compared to female [62% vs. 49%, difference 13% (95% confidence interval; CI 8-18%)]. Compared to White people, there was a lower reported priority for Black simulated patients [47% vs. 58%, difference -11% (95% CI -18% to -4%)] but not people of southeast Asian [55% vs. 58%, difference -3% (95% CI -10-5%)] and North African [61% vs. 58%, difference 3% (95% CI -4-10%)] appearance., Conclusion: In this study, the visualization of simulated patients with different characteristics modified the prioritization decision. Compared to White patients, Black patients were less likely to receive emergency treatment. The same was true for women compared with men., (Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: Disclosures Dr F.A. Simader reports sponsorship from Servier pharmaceuticals. Dr R.K. Al-Lamee reports advisory board: Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Abbott, and Philips; and speaker’s honoraria: Abbott, Philips, Medtronic, Servier, Omniprex, and Menarini.

Persistent chest pain (PCP) following acute COVID-19 infection is a commonly reported symptom with an unclear etiology, making its management challenging. This scoping review aims to address the knowledge gap surrounding the characteristics of PCP following COVID-19, its causes, and potential treatments. This is a scoping review of 64 studies, including observational (prospective, retrospective, cross-sectional, case series, and case-control) and one quasi-experimental study, from databases including Embase, PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane CENTRAL, Google Scholar, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Scopus. Studies on patients with PCP following mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19 infection were included. Studies with patients of any age, with chest pain that persisted following acute COVID-19 disease, irrespective of etiology or duration were included. A total of 35 studies reported PCP symptoms following COVID-19 (0.24%-76.6%) at an average follow-up of 3 months or longer, 12 studies at 1-3 months and 17 studies at less than 1-month follow-up or not specified. PCP was common following mild-severe COVID-19 infection, and etiology was mostly not reported. Fourteen studies proposed potential etiologies including endothelial dysfunction, cardiac ischemia, vasospasm, myocarditis, cardiac arrhythmia, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, postural tachycardia syndrome, or noted cardiac MRI (cMRI) changes. Evaluation methods included common cardiopulmonary tests, as well as less common tests such as flow-mediated dilatation, cMRI, single-photon emission computed tomography myocardial perfusion imaging, and cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Only one study reported a specific treatment (sulodexide). PCP is a prevalent symptom following COVID-19 infection, with various proposed etiologies. Further research is needed to establish a better understanding of the causes and to develop targeted treatments for PCP following COVID-19., (© 2023 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.)

Objective: Moderate risk patients with chest pain and no previously diagnosed coronary artery disease (CAD) who present to ED require further risk stratification. We hypothesise that management of these patients by ED physicians can decrease length of stay (LOS), without increasing patient harm., Methods: A prospective pilot study with comparison to a pre-intervention control group was performed on patients presenting with chest pain to an ED in Perth, Australia between May and October 2021, following the introduction of a streamlined guideline consisting of ED led decision making and early follow up. Patients had no documented CAD and were at moderate risk of major adverse cardiac events (MACE). Electronic data was used for comparison. Primary outcomes were total LOS and LOS following troponin., Results: One hundred eighty-six patients were included. Median total LOS was reduced by 62 min, but this change was not statistically significant (482 [360-795] vs 420 [360-525] min, P = 0.06). However, a significant 60 min decrease in LOS was found following the final troponin (240 (120-571) vs 180 (135-270) min, P = 0.02). There was no difference in the rate of MACE (0% vs 2%, P = 0.50), with no myocardial infarction or death., Conclusions: Our study suggests that patients with no pre-existing CAD can be safely managed by emergency physicians streamlining their ED management and decreasing LOS. This pathway could be used in other centres following confirmation of the results by a larger study., (© 2023 The Authors. Emergency Medicine Australasia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.)

Objective: We aimed to compare the predictive ability of the newly introduced Symptoms, history of Vascular disease, Electrocardiography, Age, and Troponin (SVEAT) score with the widely used History, ECG, Age, Risk factors, and Troponin I (HEART) score in risk stratification for 30-day major adverse cardiac events (MACE) development among patients presenting to the emergency department with acute chest pain complaints., Methods: This prospective, observational, single-center study was conducted at an emergency department of a tertiary care hospital between June 2022 and January 2023. We recruited all adult patients aged 24 years and above with a primary complaint of non- traumatic chest pain at the critical care unit of the Emergency Department., Inclusion Criteria: Patients aged 24 years and above with a primary complaint of chest pain lasting >5 min., Exclusion Criteria: Patients with STEMI, pregnant individuals, those with traumatic chest pain, and those without 30-day MACE data were excluded. HEART and SVEAT scores were calculated for each participant.The performance of the SVEAT score in identifying the low-risk patient group was compared to that of the HEART score., Results: In the study, out of 809 patients, 589 (72.8%) were categorized as low-risk based on the SVEAT score, and 377 (46.6%) based on the HEART score. Out of these 809 patients, 115 (14.2%) experienced MACE. Within the group classified as low risk by the SVEAT score, 6 (0.7%) patients experienced MACE, while within the group classified as low risk by the HEART score, 8 (1%) patients experienced MACE. The SVEAT score had an Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.916 (95% CI 0.890 to 0.942), which was found to be higher than the AUC of the HEART score (0.856, 95% CI 0.822 to 0.890). In our study, the sensitivity of the SVEAT and HEART scores was found to be 94.7% (95% CI 88.9%-98.0%) and 93.0% (95% CI 86.7%-96.9%), respectively. The specificity of both scores was 84.1% (95% CI 81.0%-86.6%) and 53.17% (95% CI 49.3%-56.6%), respectively., Conclusion: While our study indicated a higher predictive power for MACE development with the SVEAT score compared to the HEART score, further extensive studies are necessary for its reliable implementation in emergency departments for chest pain risk classification., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Noninvasive cardiac testing (NICT) has been associated with decreased long-term risks of major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) among emergency department patients at high coronary risk. It is unclear whether this association extends to patients without evidence of myocardial injury on initial ECG and cardiac troponin testing., Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted of patients presenting with chest pain between 2013 and 2019 to 21 emergency departments within an integrated health care system in Northern California, excluding patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction or myocardial injury by serum troponin testing. To account for confounding by indication, we grouped patient encounters by the NICT referral rate of the initially assigned emergency physician relative to local peers within discrete time periods. The primary outcome was MACE within 2 years. Secondary outcomes were coronary revascularization and MACE, inclusive of all-cause mortality. Associations between the NICT referral group (low, intermediate, or high) and outcomes were assessed using risk-adjusted proportional hazards methods with censoring for competing events., Results: Among 144 577 eligible patient encounters, the median age was 58 years (interquartile range, 48-68) and 57% were female. Thirty-day NICT referral was 13.0%, 19.9%, and 27.8% in low, intermediate, and high NICT referral groups, respectively, with a good balance of baseline covariates between groups. Compared with the low NICT referral group, there was no significant decrease in the adjusted hazard ratio of MACE within the intermediate (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.08 [95% CI, 1.02-1.14]) or high (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.05 [95% CI, 0.99-1.11]) NICT referral groups. Results were similar for MACE, inclusive of all-cause mortality, and coronary revascularization, as well as subgroup analyses stratified by estimated risk (history, electrocardiogram, age, risk factors, troponin [HEART] score: percent classified as low risk, 48.2%; moderate risk, 49.2%; and high risk, 2.7%)., Conclusions: Increases in NICT referrals were not associated with changes in the hazard of MACE within 2 years following emergency department visits for chest pain without evidence of acute myocardial injury. These findings further highlight the need for evidence-based guidance regarding the appropriate use of NICT in this population., Competing Interests: Disclosures None.

Background: The recent guidelines from the European Society of Cardiology recommends using high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) in either 0/1-h or 0/2-h algorithms to identify or rule out acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Several studies have reported good diagnostic accuracy with both algorithms, but few have compared the algorithms directly., Objective: We aimed to compare the diagnostic accuracy of the algorithms head-to-head, in the same patients., Methods: This was a secondary analysis of data from a prospective observational study; 1167 consecutive patients presenting with chest pain to the emergency department at Skåne University Hospital (Lund, Sweden) were enrolled. Only patients with a hs-cTnT sample at presentation AND after 1 AND 2 h were included in the analysis. We compared sensitivity, specificity, and negative (NPV) and positive predictive value (PPV). The primary outcome was index visit AMI., Results: A total of 710 patients were included, of whom 56 (7.9%) had AMI. Both algorithms had a sensitivity of 98.2% and an NPV of 99.8% for ruling out AMI, but the 0/2-h algorithm ruled out significantly more patients (69.3% vs. 66.2%, p < 0.001). For rule-in, the 0/2-h algorithm had higher PPV (73.4% vs. 65.2%) and slightly better specificity (97.4% vs. 96.3%, p = 0.016) than the 0/1-h algorithm., Conclusion: Both algorithms had good diagnostic accuracy, with a slight advantage for the 0/2-h algorithm. Which algorithm to implement may thus depend on practical issues such as the ability to exploit the theoretical time saved with the 0/1-h algorithm. Further studies comparing the algorithms in combination with electrocardiography, history, or risk scores are needed., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Current guidelines emphasize the diagnostic value of non-cardiac or possibly cardiac chest pain. The goal of this analysis was to determine whether German chest pain units (CPUs) adequately address conditions with "atypical" chest pain in existing diagnostic structures., Method: A total of 11,734 patients from the German CPU registry were included. The analyses included mode of admission, critical time intervals, diagnostic steps, and differential diagnoses., Results: Patients with unspecified chest pain were younger, more often female, were less likely to have classic cardiovascular risk factors and tended to present more often as self-referrals. Patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) mostly had prehospital medical contact. Overall, there was no difference between these two groups regarding the time from the onset of first symptoms to arrival at the CPU. In the CPU, the usual basic diagnostic measures were performed irrespective of ACS as the primary working diagnosis. In the non-ACS group, further ischemia-specific diagnostics were rarely performed. Extra-cardiac differential diagnoses were not specified., Conclusion: The establishment of broader awareness programs and opening CPUs for low-threshold evaluation of self-referring patients should be discussed. Regarding the rigid focus on the clarification of cardiac causes of chest pain, a stronger interdisciplinary approach should be promoted., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.)

Chest pain poses a diagnostic challenge in the emergency department and requires a thorough clinical assessment. The traditional distinction between "atypical" and "typical" chest pain carries the risk of not addressing nonischemic clinical pictures. The newly conceived subdivision into cardiac, possibly cardiac, and (probably) noncardiac causes of the presenting symptom complex addresses a much more interdisciplinary approach to a symptom-oriented diagnostic algorithm. The diagnostic structures of the chest pain units in Germany do not currently reflect this. An adaptation should therefore be considered., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.)

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.

Background: To determine if the European Society of Cardiology 0/1-hour (ESC 0/1-h) algorithm with high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) meets the ≥99% negative predictive value (NPV) safety threshold for 30-day cardiac death or myocardial infarction (MI) in older, middle-aged and young subgroups., Methods: We conducted a subgroup analysis of adult emergency department patients with chest pain prospectively enrolled from eight US sites (January 2017 to September 2018). Patients were stratified into rule-out, observation and rule-in zones using the hs-cTnT ESC 0/1-h algorithm and classified as older (≥65 years), middle aged (46-64 years) or young (21-45 years). Patients had 0-hour and 1-hour hs-cTnT measures (Roche Diagnostics) and a History, ECG, Age, Risk factor and Troponin (HEART) score. Fisher's exact tests compared rule-out and 30-day cardiac death or MI rates between ages. NPVs with 95% CIs were calculated for the ESC 0/1-h algorithm with and without the HEART score., Results: Of 1430 participants, 26.9% (385/1430) were older, 57.4% (821/1430) middle aged and 15.7% (224/1430) young. Cardiac death or MI at 30 days occurred in 12.8% (183/1430). ESC 0/1-h algorithm ruled out 35.6% (137/385) of older, 62.1% (510/821) of middle-aged and 79.9% of (179/224) young patients (p<0.001). NPV for 30-day cardiac death or MI was 97.1% (95% CI 92.7% to 99.2%) among older patients, 98.4% (95% CI 96.9% to 99.3%) in middle-aged patients and 99.4% (95% CI 96.9% to 100%) among young patients. Adding a HEART score increased NPV to 100% (95% CI 87.7% to 100%) for older, 99.2% (95% CI 97.2% to 99.9%) for middle-aged and 99.4% (95% CI 96.6% to 100%) for young patients., Conclusions: In older and middle-aged adults, the hs-cTnT ESC 0/1-h algorithm was unable to reach a 99% NPV for 30-day cardiac death or MI unless combined with a HEART score., Trial Registration Number: NCT02984436., Competing Interests: Competing interests: ACS receives funding from Abbott, HRSA (1H2ARH399760100) and AHRQ (R01HS029017). JS receives research funding from HRSA (H2ARH39976-01-00), The Duke Endowment, Roche Diagnostics, Abbott Laboratories, Pathfast, Genetesis, Cytovale, Forest Devices, Vifor Pharma and Chiesi Farmaceutici. SAM receives funding/support from Roche Diagnostics, Abbott Laboratories, QuidelOrtho, Siemens, Grifols, Pathfast, Genetesis, Cytovale, The Duke Endowment, Beckman Coulter, Comprehensive Research Associates, Brainbox, HRSA (1H2ARH399760100) and AHRQ (R01HS029017). He is a consultant for Roche, QuidelOrtho, Abbott, Siemens, Genetesis, Inflammatix, Radiometer and Amgen and is the chief medical officer for Impathiq. BA receives research funding/support from Roche Diagnostics, Siemens and Beckman Coulter. He is a consultant for Roche Diagnostics. BM has research support from the NIH (5K08HL130546) and Roche Diagnostics. She has served as a consultant for Roche Diagnostics. JM receives research funding/support from Beckman Coulter, Roche Diagnostics, Abbott Laboratories and Siemens. He is a consultant for Beckman Coulter, Roche Diagnostics and Siemens. RGW received research funding from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Lilly USA, BioAge Labs, Roche Diagnostics, Global Blood Therapeutics, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Egetis Therapeutics, EndPoint Health, Blade Therapeutics, Janssen R&D, ProvePharma and Pfizer. He has received research funding from CoapTech through an NIH/NIDDK grant (R44DK115325). He has received research support in the form of equipment and supplies from Cepheid and Eldon Biologicals. He is an uncompensated advisor to CSL Behring. RC is a consultant for and receives funding/support from Roche Diagnostics, Siemens Healthineers, Beckman Coulter Diagnostics, Becton Dickinson and Co, Quidel and Sphingotec., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Pheochromocytoma is rare in pregnant women. It presents as diverse symptoms, including hypertension and sweating. The symptoms of pregnant women with pheochromocytoma and comorbid hypertension often mimic the clinical manifestations of preeclampsia, and these women are often misdiagnosed with preeclampsia., Case Presentation: In this case, a pregnant woman presented with chest pain as the primary symptom, and a diagnosis of pheochromocytoma was considered after ruling out myocardial ischemia and aortic dissection with the relevant diagnostic tools. This patient then underwent successful surgical resection using a nontraditional management approach, which resulted in a positive clinical outcome., Conclusions: It is essential to consider pheochromocytoma as a potential cause of chest pain and myocardial infarction-like electrocardiographic changes in pregnant women, even if they do not have a history of hypertension., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Chest pain is the most common symptom of coronary artery disease (CAD) and diabetes mellitus (DM) is a well-known single strongest risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Thus, the impact of CAD nor DM on long-term clinical effects is reported widely, but the prognostic factors of non-DM patients presenting with chest pain without significant CAD are limited. A total of 1,046 patients with chest pain without DM and significant CAD who underwent coronary angiography (CAG) and acetylcholine (ACH) provocation tests were finally enrolled. Propensity score matching and multivariate Cox-proportional hazard ratio analysis were performed to adjust for baseline potential confounders. Major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) were defined as the composite of total death, myocardial infarction (MI), revascularization, stroke, and recurrent angina. This study aimed to evaluate the long-term prognostic factors for MACCE in patients with chest pain without DM and CAD up to 5 years. Coronary artery spasm (CAS) was the most common cause of chest pain. However, long-term MACCE of CAS was not worse than those of patients with chest pain without CAS when patients with CAS had subsequent optimal antianginal medication therapy. However, a recurrent chest pain remains a problem even with continuous antianginal medication therapy. Up to 5 years, the incidence of MACCE was in 7.3%, including recurrent angina 6.9%. Dyslipidemia (HR: 2.010, 95% CI 1.166-3.466, P = 0.012), mild-moderate (30-70%) coronary stenosis (HR: 2.369, 95% CI 1.118-5.018, P = 0.024), the use of aspirin (HR: 2.885, 95% CI 1.588-5.238, P < 0.001), and the use of nitrates (HR: 1.938, 95% CI 1.094-3.433, P = 0.023) were independent risk factors for MACCE. Among the patients with chest pain without DM and significant CAD, the incidence of MACE were rare, but recurrent angina was still a challenging problem who had treated with antianginal medications., (© 2024. Springer Nature Japan KK, part of Springer Nature.)

Acute pericarditis is defined as inflammation of the pericardium and occurs in approximately 4.4% of patients who present to the emergency department for nonischemic chest pain, with a higher prevalence in men. Although there are numerous etiologies of pericarditis, most episodes are idiopathic and the cause is presumed to be viral. Diagnosis of pericarditis requires at least two of the following criteria: new or worsening pericardial effusion, characteristic pleuritic chest pain, pericardial friction rub, or electrocardiographic changes, including new, widespread ST elevations or PR depressions. Pericardial friction rubs are highly specific but transient, and they have been reported in 18% to 84% of patients with acute pericarditis. Classic electrocardiographic findings include PR-segment depressions; diffuse, concave, upward ST-segment elevations without reciprocal changes; and T-wave inversions. Transthoracic echocardiography should be performed in all patients with acute pericarditis to characterize the size of effusions and evaluate for complications. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are the first-line treatment option. Glucocorticoids should be reserved for patients with contraindications to first-line therapy and those who are pregnant beyond 20 weeks' gestation or have other systemic inflammatory conditions. Colchicine should be used in combination with first- or second-line treatments to reduce the risk of recurrence. Patients with a higher risk of complications should be admitted to the hospital for further workup and treatment.

Preclinical management of patients with acute chest pain and their identification as candidates for urgent coronary revascularization without the use of high sensitivity troponin essays remains a critical challenge in emergency medicine. We enrolled 2760 patients (average age 70 years, 58.6% male) with chest pain and suspected ACS, who were admitted to the Emergency Department of the University Hospital Tübingen, Germany, between August 2016 and October 2020. Using 26 features, eight Machine learning models (non-deep learning models) were trained with data from the preclinical rescue protocol and compared to the "TropOut" score (a modified version of the "preHEART" score which consists of history, ECG, age and cardiac risk but without troponin analysis) to predict major adverse cardiac event (MACE) and acute coronary artery occlusion (ACAO). In our study population MACE occurred in 823 (29.8%) patients and ACAO occurred in 480 patients (17.4%). Interestingly, we found that all machine learning models outperformed the "TropOut" score. The VC and the LR models showed the highest area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) for predicting MACE (AUROC = 0.78) and the VC showed the highest AUROC for predicting ACAO (AUROC = 0.81). A SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analyses based on the XGB model showed that presence of ST-elevations in the electrocardiogram (ECG) were the most important features to predict both endpoints., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: This study assesses how ambulance paramedics using the modified HEART-score with a point-of-care cardiac troponin (cTn) compare to the emergency physicians using the modified HEART-score with a high-sensitive cTn (hs-cTn) in patients with suspected non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS), focusing on interobserver agreement and diagnostic performance. Methods: In this prospective multicenter cohort, we compare four cTn testing strategies (serial point of care and hs-cTn cTn measurement) with and without the HEART-score. Outcomes include the HEART-score's interobserver agreement, NSTE-ACS at discharge, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) after 30 days, and diagnostic accuracy of the different strategies. Conclusion: The POPular HEART study aims to improve NSTE-ACS diagnostic pathways, promoting pre-hospital detection and ruling out of NSTE-ACS to minimize unnecessary hospitalizations and associated costs. Clinical Trial Registration: NCT04851418 (ClinicalTrials.gov).

Background and Objectives . In emergency departments, chest pain is a common concern, highlighting the critical importance of distinguishing between acute coronary syndrome and other potential causes. Our research aimed to introduce and implement the HEAR score, specifically, in remote emergency outposts in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Materials and Methods. This follow-up study conducted a retrospective analysis of a prospective cohort consisting of patients who were admitted to the remote emergency medicine outposts in Canton Sarajevo and Zenica from 1 November to 31 December 2023. Results . This study comprised 103 (12.9%) patients with low-risk HEAR scores and 338 (83.8%) with high-risk HEAR scores, primarily female (221, 56.9%), with a mean age of 63.5 ± 11.2). Patients with low-risk HEAR scores were significantly younger (50.5 ± 15.6 vs. 65.9 ± 12.1), had fewer smokers ( p < 0.05), and exhibited a lower incidence of cardiovascular risk factors compared to those with high-risk HEAR scores. Low-risk HEAR score for prediction of AMI had a sensitivity of 97.1% (95% CI 89.9-99.6%); specificity of 27.3% (95% CI 22.8-32.1%); PPV of 19.82% (95% CI 18.67-21.03%), and NPV of 98.08% (95% CI 92.80-99.51%). Within 30 days of the admission to the emergency department outpost, out of all 441 patients, 100 (22.7%) were diagnosed with MACE, with AMI 69 (15.6%), 3 deaths (0.7%), 6 (1.4%) had a CABG, and 22 (4.9%) underwent PCI. A low-risk HEAR score had a sensitivity of 97.0% (95% CI 91.7-99.4%) and specificity of 27.3% (95% CI 22.8-32.1%); PPV of 25.5% (95% CI 25.59-28.37%); NPV of 97.14% (95% CI 91.68-99.06%) for 30-day MACE. Conclusions . In conclusion, the outcomes of this study align with existing research, underscoring the effectiveness of the HEAR score in risk stratification for patients with chest pain. In practical terms, the implementation of the HEAR score in clinical decision-making processes holds significant promise.

Background: ChatGPT-4 is a large language model with promising healthcare applications. However, its ability to analyze complex clinical data and provide consistent results is poorly known. Compared to validated tools, this study evaluated ChatGPT-4's risk stratification of simulated patients with acute nontraumatic chest pain., Methods: Three datasets of simulated case studies were created: one based on the TIMI score variables, another on HEART score variables, and a third comprising 44 randomized variables related to non-traumatic chest pain presentations. ChatGPT-4 independently scored each dataset five times. Its risk scores were compared to calculated TIMI and HEART scores. A model trained on 44 clinical variables was evaluated for consistency., Results: ChatGPT-4 showed a high correlation with TIMI and HEART scores (r = 0.898 and 0.928, respectively), but the distribution of individual risk assessments was broad. ChatGPT-4 gave a different risk 45-48% of the time for a fixed TIMI or HEART score. On the 44-variable model, a majority of the five ChatGPT-4 models agreed on a diagnosis category only 56% of the time, and risk scores were poorly correlated (r = 0.605)., Conclusion: While ChatGPT-4 correlates closely with established risk stratification tools regarding mean scores, its inconsistency when presented with identical patient data on separate occasions raises concerns about its reliability. The findings suggest that while large language models like ChatGPT-4 hold promise for healthcare applications, further refinement and customization are necessary, particularly in the clinical risk assessment of atraumatic chest pain patients., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Heston, Lewis. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.

Background: The management of unstable angina (UA) presents a challenge due to its subjective diagnosis and limited representation in randomized clinical trials that inform current practices., Objectives: This study aims to identify key factors associated with the indication for invasive versus non-invasive stratification in this population and to evaluate factors associated with stratification test results., Methods: This retrospective cohort study included patients hospitalized with UA over a consecutive 20-month period. To assess factors associated with stratification strategies, patients were divided into invasive stratification (coronary angiography) and non-invasive stratification (other methods) groups. For the analysis of factors related to changes in stratification tests, patients were categorized into groups with or without obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) or ischemia, as per the results of the requested tests. Comparisons between groups and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed, with statistical significance set at a 5% level., Results: A total of 729 patients were included, with a median age of 63 years and a predominance of males (64.6%). Factors associated with invasive stratification included smoking (p = 0.001); type of chest pain (p < 0.001); "crescendo" pain (p = 0.006); TIMI score (p = 0.006); HEART score (p = 0.011). In multivariate analysis, current smokers (OR 2.23, 95% CI 1.13-4.8), former smokers (OR 2.19, 95% CI 1.39-3.53), and type A chest pain (OR 3.39, 95% CI 1.93-6.66) were independently associated. Factors associated with obstructive CAD or ischemia included length of hospital stay (p < 0.001); male gender (p = 0.032); effort-induced pain (p = 0.037); Diamond-Forrester score (p = 0.026); TIMI score (p = 0.001). In multivariate analysis, only chest pain (type B chest pain: OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.38-0.93, p = 0.026) and previous CAD (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.01-2.0, p = 0.048) were independently associated., Conclusion: The type of chest pain plays a crucial role not only in the diagnosis of UA but also in determining the appropriate treatment. Our results highlight the importance of incorporating pain characteristics into prognostic scores endorsed by guidelines to optimize UA management.

Background: The American College of Cardiology (ACC) recently published an Expert Consensus Decision Pathway for chest pain., Objectives: The purpose of this study was to validate the ACC Pathway in a multisite U.S., Methods: An observational cohort study of adults with possible acute coronary syndrome was conducted. Patients were accrued from 5 U.S. Emergency Departments (November 1, 2020, to July 31, 2022). ECGs and 0- and 2-hour high-sensitivity troponin (Beckman Coulter) measures were used to stratify patients according to the ACC Pathway. The primary safety outcome was 30-day all-cause death or myocardial infarction (MI). Efficacy was defined as the proportion stratified to the rule-out zone. Negative predictive value for 30-day death or MI was assessed among the whole cohort and in a subgroup of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) (prior MI, revascularization, or ≥70% coronary stenosis)., Results: ACC Pathway assessments were complete in 14,395 patients, of whom 51.7% (7,437 of 14,395) were women with a median age of 56 years (Q1-Q3: 44-68 years). Known CAD was present in 23.5% (3,386 of 14,395) and 30-day death or MI occurred in 8.1% (1,168 of 14,395). The ACC Pathway had an efficacy of 48.1% (95% CI: 47.3%-49.0%). Among patients in the rule-out zone, 0.3% (22 of 6,930) had death or MI at 30 days, yielding a negative predictive value of 99.7% (95% CI: 99.5%-99.8%). In patients with known CAD, 20.0% (676 of 3,386) were classified to the rule-out zone, of whom 1.5% (10 of 676) had death or MI., Conclusions: The ACC expert consensus decision pathway was safe and efficacious. However, it may not be safe for use among patients with known CAD., Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosures This study was funded internally by Wake Forest University Health Systems. The Wake Forest Clinical and Translational Science Institute, supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health, through UL1TR001420. Dr Mahler has received funding/support from Roche Diagnostics, Abbott Laboratories, QuidelOrtho Clinical Diagnostics, Siemens, Grifols, Pathfast, Genetesis, Cytovale, Beckman Coulter, Brainbox, AHRQ (R01HS029017 and R21HS029234), The Duke Endowment, National Foundation of Emergency Medicine, and HRSA (1H2ARH399760100); is a consultant for Roche, Abbott, Siemens, QuidelOrtho, Genetesis, Inflammatix, and Radiometer; and is the Chief Medical Officer for Impathiq Inc. Dr Ashburn has received funding from AHRQ (R01HS029017). Dr Supples has received funding from the National Institutes of Health (UL1TR001420), HRSA (1H2ARH399760100), and the National Foundation of Emergency Medicine. Dr Snavely has received funding from Abbott Laboratories, AHRQ (R01HS029017), and HRSA (1H2ARH399760100). All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)