scholarly journals Sex differences in clinical presentation, management and outcome in emergency department patients with chest pain

CJEM ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 12 (05) ◽  
pp. 405-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik P. Hess ◽  
Jeffrey J. Perry ◽  
Lisa A. Calder ◽  
Venkatesh Thiruganasambandamoorthy ◽  
Veronique L. Roger ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Objective: We sought to assess sex differences in clinical presentation, management and outcome in emergency department (ED) patients with chest pain, and to measure the association between female sex and coronary angiography within 30 days. Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study in an urban academic ED between Jul. 1, 2007, and Apr. 1, 2008. We enrolled patients over 24 years of age with chest pain and possible acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Results: Among the 970 included patients, 386 (39.8%) were female. Compared with men, women had a lower prevalence of known coronary artery disease (21.0% v. 34.2%, p < 0.001) and a lower frequency of typical pain (37.1% v. 45.7%, p = 0.01). Clinicians classified a greater proportion of women as having a low (< 10%) pretest probability for ACS (85.0% v. 76.4%, p = 0.001). Despite similar rates of electrocardiography, troponin T and stress testing between sexes, there was a lower rate of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) (4.7% v. 8.4%, p = 0.03) and positive stress test results (4.4% v. 7.9%, p = 0.03) in women. Women were less frequently referred for coronary angiography (9.3% v. 18.9%, p < 0.001). The adjusted association between female sex and coronary angiography was not significant (odds ratio 0.63, 95% confidence interval 0.37–1.10). Conclusion: Women had a lower rate of AMI and a lower rate of positive stress test results despite similar rates of testing between sexes. Although women were less frequently referred for coronary angiography, these data suggest that sex differences in management were likely appropriate for the probability of disease.

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ευαγγελία Κουντάνα

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality in developed countries andplaces a massive burden on healthcare services. Thousands of patients visit every yearthe Emergency Department (ED) with acute chest pain and a considerable proportionhas an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). In most cases, the electrocardiogram and thecommonly used biomarkers are not helpful in the early diagnosis of myocardialischemia.ObjectiveTo assess the role of ischemia modified albumin (IMA), a novel cardiac biomarker, inexcluding unstable angina (UA) in patients visiting the ED with acute chest pain. Thepredictive value of serum IMA concentrations were evaluated in comparison toechocardiogram.MethodsWe studied 33 patients (84.8% males, age 59.8±10.8 years) who presented at theAccident and Emergency Department with acute chest pain lasting < 3 h, normal ornon-diagnostic electrocardiogram and normal serum troponin and CK-MB levels.Serum IMA levels were determined and a comprehensive echocardiographic studywas performed. All patients were admitted to our Department of Cardiology and thediagnosis of UA was established with exercise or thallium stress test or with coronaryangiography.ResultsFive patients were eventually diagnosed with UA. The area under the curve for thediagnosis of unstable angina based on serum IMA levels was 0.193 (95% confidenceinterval 0.047-0.339, p < 0.05). Serum IMA levels ≥ 31,95 IU/ml had a sensitivity,specificity, positive and negative predictive value for the diagnosis of UA of 40.0%,28.6%, 9.1% and 72.7%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive andnegative predictive value of echocardiography for the diagnosis of UA was 60.0%,89.3%, 50.0% and 92.6%, respectively.Conclusion: Assessment of serum IMA levels in patients presenting with suspectedUA has comparable negative predictive value with echocardiography for excludingthe diagnosis of UA. Therefore, this biomarker appears to be useful in the diagnosisand stratification of risk in patients with ACS.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (08) ◽  
pp. 1669-1674
Author(s):  
Zahid Mahmood ◽  
Tariq Feroze Khawaja ◽  
Anjum Iqbal ◽  
Abdul Rashid Khan ◽  
Naveed Arshad

Objectives: To assess the clinical characteristics and diagnosis of ACS for timely, management and further prevention from coronary events. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Setting: Emergency Department (ED) of Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) Lahore. Period: November 2017 to January 2018. Material & Methods: Included 170 diagnosed patients of ACS of both sexes presenting within approximately four hours of symptoms. At presentation ECG and initial blood samples were taken from all patients for base line and Troponin T estimation. All the patients included in the study were properly examined and complete history was taken. Blood samples of patients for diagnosis of NSTEMI were also drawn at 8hrs of arrival. The patients were categorized into STEMI, NSTEMI and UA on the basis of history, ECG and cardiac Troponin T. Results were analyzed statistically. A p-value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 170 patients with established diagnosis of ACS were included. The mean age of the patients was 56 years. There was a very strong male predominance (81.76%). The major modifiable risk factors were hypertension (54.71%) and smoking (35.88%), followed by hyperlipidemia (35.29%) and diabetes (32.35%). A previous history of IHD in patients and family history of IHD were equally present (37.65%). A large proportion of patients belonged to middle class (54.12%) and lower (41.18%). Typical pain chest pain was present in 90% and majority of patients enrolled in this study had a diagnosis of myocardial infarction 77.05% and the remainder had unstable angina. We found a higher percentage of ST elevation MI in the patients with MI (84.73%), majority had anterior AMI. Of all patients, 1.77% expired during hospital stay. Conclusion: The majority of ACS patients in our country are male with STEMI. The major risk factors are hypertension, family history of IHD, smoking, hyperlipidemia and diabetes. 90% patients present with typical chest pain while remaining 10% atypical symptoms which must be of prime consideration to assess ACS.


Author(s):  
Lagath Wanigabadu ◽  
◽  
Jithesh Choyi ◽  
Shahram Ahmadvazi ◽  
Sarah Justice ◽  
...  

An elderly male patient presented with chest pain and an initially abnormal ECG, with 1 mm ST elevation in the lateral leads. As he was pain free on arrival, he was treated locally, where a coronary angiography showed no stenosis and echocardiography showed apical ballooning which indicated Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy (TC). On further questioning, he indicated he has been worrying about his son’s financial circumstances. Patients with TC can present with a history and an ECG resembling and indistinguishable from ST-elevation Myocardial infarction or other types of Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS).


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mishita Goel ◽  
Shubhkarman Dhillon ◽  
Sarwan Kumar ◽  
Vesna Tegeltija

Abstract Background Cardiac stress testing is a validated diagnostic tool to assess symptomatic patients with intermediate pretest probability of coronary artery disease (CAD). However, in some cases, the cardiac stress test may provide inconclusive results and the decision for further workup typically depends on the clinical judgement of the physician. These decisions can greatly affect patient outcomes. Case presentation We present an interesting case of a 54-year-old Caucasian male with history of tobacco use and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) who presented with atypical chest pain. He had an asymptomatic electrocardiogram (EKG) stress test with intermediate probability of ischemia. Further workup with coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) and cardiac catheterization revealed multivessel CAD requiring a bypass surgery. In this case, the patient only had a history of tobacco use but no other significant comorbidities. He was clinically stable during his hospital stay and his testing was anticipated to be negative. However to complete workup, cardiology recommended anatomical testing with CCTA given the indeterminate EKG stress test results but the results of significant stenosis were surprising with the patient eventually requiring coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Conclusion As a result of the availability of multiple noninvasive diagnostic tests with almost similar sensitivities for CAD, physicians often face this dilemma of choosing the right test for optimal evaluation of chest pain in patients with intermediate pretest probability of CAD. Optimal test selection requires an individualized patient approach. Our experience with this case emphasizes the role of history taking, clinical judgement, and the risk/benefit ratio in deciding further workup when faced with inconclusive stress test results. Physicians should have a lower threshold for further workup of patients with inconclusive or even negative stress test results because of the diagnostic limitations of the test. Instead, utilizing a different, anatomical test may be more valuable. Specifically, the case established the usefulness of CCTA in cases such as this where other CAD diagnostic testing is indeterminate.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Behcet Al ◽  
Mustafa Bogan ◽  
Suat Zengin ◽  
Mustafa Sabak ◽  
Seval Kul ◽  
...  

Objective. This study was designed to investigate the effects of Desert Dust Storms and Climatological Factors on Mortality and Morbidity of Cardiovascular Diseases admitted to emergency department in Gaziantep. Method. Hospital records, obtained between September 01, 2009 and January 31, 2014, from four state hospitals in Gaziantep, Turkey, were compared to meteorological and climatological data. Statistical analysis was performed by Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) for windows version 24.0. Results. 168,467 patients were included in this study. 83% of the patients had chest pain and 17% of patients had cardiac failure (CF). An increase in inpatient hospitalization due to CF was observed and corresponded to the duration of dust storms measured by number of days. However, there was no significant increase in emergency department (ED) presentations. There was no significant association of cardiac related mortality and coinciding presence of a dust storm or higher recorded temperature. The association of increases in temperature levels and the presence of dust storms with “acute coronary syndrome- (ACS-) related emergency service presentations, inpatient hospitalization, and mortality” were statistically significant. The relationship between the increase in PM10 levels due to causes unrelated to dust storms and the outpatient application, admission, and mortality due to heart failure was not significant. The increase in particle matter 10 (PM) levels due to causes outside the dust storm caused a significant increase in outpatient application, hospitalization, and mortality originated from ACS. Conclusion. Increased number of dust storms resulted in a higher prevalence of mortality due to ACS while mortality due to heart failure remained unchanged. Admission, hospitalization, and mortality due to chest pain both dependent and independent of ACS were increased by the presence of dust storms, PM10 elevation, and maximum temperature.


Circulation ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 118 (suppl_18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabian Bamberg ◽  
Maros Ferecik ◽  
Quynh Truong ◽  
Ian Rogers ◽  
Michael Shapiro ◽  
...  

Background: Coronary computed tomography (CT) may improve the early triage of patients with acute chest pain in the emergency department (ED). The aim of this study was to compare the presence and extent of coronary atherosclerotic plaque as detected by coronary CT in patients with and without acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Methods: The study was designed as a prospective, observational cohort study in patients with acute chest pain but negative cardiac biomarkers and no diagnostic ECG changes, admitted to rule out myocardial ischemia. All patients underwent coronary CT prior to hospital admission. The presence of coronary plaque was treated as a dichotomous outcome, and the extent of CAD was defined as number of (1) coronary segments with plaque, or (2) major coronary arteries with plaque detected by MDCT as assessed by two independent observers. The clinical outcome (ACS) was adjudicated by a review committee using established AHA criteria; subjects with history of CAD (stent placement, bypass) were excluded. Results : Among 368 patients with acute chest pain (mean age 53±12 years, 61% male) 31 patients were determined to have ACS (8%). None of the 183 subjects without plaque (50%) had an ACS. Among the remaining 185 subjects (mean age 58.0±11.5 years, 68% male) in whom coronary plaque was detected, patients with ACS had a significantly more plaque (7.2±3.7 vs. 4.2±3.4, p<0.0001 segments) as compared to subjects without ACS. Similar results were seen for calcified plaque and non-calcified plaque (6.5±3.7 vs. 3.6±3.5 segments, p<0.0001; and 3.6±3.2 vs. 1.8±2.2 segments, p<0.0001, respectively). In addition, the rate of ACS increased with the number of major coronary arteries with plaque (1-vessel: 6.8%, 2-vessels: 10.6%, 3 vessels: 30.8%, and 4-vessels: 25%; p<0.01). In contrast, the ratio of non-calcified to calcified plaque was not different between patients with and without ACS (0.68±0.6 vs. 0.54±0.72, p=0.31). Conclusions: The extent of coronary plaque differs between subjects with and without ACS among patients presenting with acute chest pain. Detailed assessment of the extent and composition of coronary plaque may be helpful to assess risk of ACS among patients with acute chest pain but inconclusive initial ED evaluation.


Author(s):  
Taraka V Gadiraju ◽  
Jahnavi Sagi ◽  
Dev Basu ◽  
Srikanth Penumetsa ◽  
Michael Rothberg

Objectives: Patients frequently present to the hospital with chest pain. Once myocardial infarction is ruled out based on EKG and cardiac enzymes, most patients undergo stress testing, but only few patients have a positive test. In ambulatory practice, age, sex and symptomatology can establish pretest probability of the coronary disease. However, there are no studies evaluating the predictors of a positive stress test in the emergency department (ED). We assessed predictors for a positive stress test in patients presenting to our hospital with chest pain. Methods: This is a case-control study conducted on a subset of patients admitted to our tertiary care center with chest pain between 2007 and 2009, and who had an inpatient stress test (n=1474). Using chart review, we identified 87 patients, whose stress tests were positive (abnormals), defined as presence of ischemia on EKG and/or imaging modalities. We then used a pseudorandom number generator to select 194 patients whose stress test results were normal (normals) for comparison. Clinical features of chest pain and CAD risk factors were abstracted from the medical record for comparison. A bivariable screening process was used to identify characteristics for inclusion in a multivariable predictive model. Sex and age were maintained in the model for face validity, and remaining covariates were removed in ascending order of their z-statistics until only those with a two-sided p-value of <0.10 remained. Stata 12.1 (Copyright 2011, StataCorp LP) was used for all analyses. Results: Patients with an abnormal stress test were older and more likely to be male and to have a history of vascular disease. Although patients with abnormal stress test were more likely to have history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia and current or ex-smoking, this difference was not statistically significant. Over half of the patients presented with non-cardiac chest pain and there was no significant difference in the chest pain characteristics between patients who had a normal and an abnormal stress test result. In the final multivariable model, when compared to the normals, abnormals were four times as likely to have a history of revascularization (OR 4.13, 95% CI 2.11, 8.09) and twice as likely to have a history of hyperlipidemia (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.18, 3.79). They were also more likely to have an EKG suggestive of ischemia at presentation (OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.03, 3.53). Specificity of the model was 89%; sensitivity was 43%, and the c-statistic for the final multivariable model was 0.76, suggesting fair to good discrimination. Conclusions: Among patients presenting to the ED with chest pain, a past history of revascularization and hyperlipidemia and an EKG suggestive of ischemia may independently predict the likelihood of an abnormal stress test. Further validation of this model on an external dataset is necessary.


Circulation ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 132 (suppl_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie L Davis ◽  
Thomas P McCoy ◽  
Barbara Riegel ◽  
Sharon McKinley ◽  
Lynn Doering ◽  
...  

Background: Prompt treatment of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) has been shown to reduce mortality and morbidity; yet many patients delay seeking care. In order to receive timely care, symptoms of ACS need to be recognized, interpreted, and acted upon. Patients who experience symptoms matching their expectations and those with correct symptom attribution are more likely to use emergency medical services (EMS) as a means of transportation to the hospital. The connection between symptom type and EMS use has not been fully explored. Purpose: To assess if clusters of presenting symptoms are associated with EMS transportation to the emergency department (ED) in patients with ACS and to evaluate if EMS transportation or symptom clusters are associated with prehospital delay time. Methods: A secondary analysis was conducted from the PROMOTION trial, a randomized controlled trial to reduce patient prehospital delay in ACS. Results: Of the 3,522 subjects with coronary artery disease enrolled, 3,087 completed 2-year follow-up. Of these, 331 subjects visited an ED for ACS symptoms during follow-up. Among the 331, 84% (278) had mode of transportation documented; 44% arrived by EMS. Having classic ACS symptoms (chest pain, pressure, or discomfort) in combination with pain symptoms (AOR=2.66, p = 0.011), classic ACS symptoms in combination with stress symptoms (AOR=2.61, p = 0.007) or classic ACS symptoms in combination with both pain and stress symptoms (AOR=3.90, p = 0.012) were associated with higher odds of arriving to the ED by EMS compared to classic ACS symptoms alone. Among 260 patients with prehospital delay time available, arriving by EMS decreased median delay time by 68.5 minutes compared to those with other transportation, after accounting for symptom clusters, patient and study characteristics (p = 0.002). Symptom clusters did not predict delay time in adjusted modeling (p = 0.952). Conclusion: While chest pain was the most prevalent symptom of ACS for most (85%), these findings suggest that it is the cluster of classic ACS symptoms with other types of symptom that motivate patients to use EMS. With less than half of patients using EMS, further research is needed to better understand how symptom clusters influence care-seeking behavior.


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