Abstract 13173: Unusual Fatigue and Failure to Utilize Emergency Medical Services Are Associated With Prolonged Prehospital Delay for Suspected Acute Coronary Syndrome

Circulation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (Suppl_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Holli A Devon ◽  
Mohamud R Daya ◽  
Elizabeth Knight ◽  
Mary-Lynn Brecht ◽  
Erica Su ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Acute Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Chest Pain ◽  
Delay Time ◽  
Failure Time ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Final Diagnosis ◽  
Prehospital Delay ◽  
Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Risk Patients

Introduction: Rapid reperfusion reduces infarct size and mortality for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) but efficacy is time dependent. Time to presentation in the Emergency Department (ED) remains excessive and patient-controlled prehospital delay may be a modifiable variable for intervention. The aim of the study was to determine if transportation factors and clinical presentation predicted prehospital delay for suspected ACS stratified by final diagnosis (ACS vs. no ACS). Hypothesis: Symptoms other than chest pain would contribute to longer prehospital delay that would vary by final diagnosis. Methods: Secondary analysis of data collected from a multi-center prospective study. A heterogeneous sample of ED patients with symptoms suggestive of ACS were enrolled at five sites in the US. Accelerated failure time (AFT) models were used to specify a direct relationship between delay time and variables to predict prehospital delay by final diagnosis. Results: The sample of 975 adults included 609 (62.5%) men and 366 (37.5%) women who were predominantly Caucasian (69.1%), had a mean age of 60.32 (±14.07) years, and had lower income levels (66.4% ≤$50,000 annually). Median delay time was 6.68 (1.91, 24.94) hours and only 26.2% had a prehospital delay of 2 hours or less. Patients with and without ACS presenting with unusual fatigue (TR=1.71, p=0.002; TR=1.54, p=0.003 , respectively) or self-transporting to the ED experienced significantly longer prehospital delay (TR 1.93, p<0.001; TR 1.71, p<0.001 , respectively). Predictors of shorter delay in patients with ACS were shoulder pain and lightheadedness (TR=0.65, p =0.013 and TR=0.67, p =0.022, respectively). Predictors of shorter delay for patients ruled-out for ACS were the presence of chest pain, sweating (TR=0.071, p =0.025 and TR=0.073, p =0.032, respectively). Conclusion: Patients self-transporting to the ED had prolonged prehospital delays. Encouraging the use of EMS is an important modifiable factor for patients with symptoms concerning for ACS. Calling 911 can be positively framed to at risk patients and the community as having advanced care come to them since EMS diagnostic capabilities include 12-lead ECG acquisition and possibly high sensitivity troponin assays.

Abstract 12162: Association of Symptom Clusters With Mode of Transportation to Emergency Department in Patients Diagnosed With Acute Coronary Syndrome

Circulation ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 132 (suppl_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie L Davis ◽  
Thomas P McCoy ◽  
Barbara Riegel ◽  
Sharon McKinley ◽  
Lynn Doering ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Acute Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Chest Pain ◽  
Delay Time ◽  
Symptom Clusters ◽  
Prehospital Delay ◽  
Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Stress Symptoms ◽  
Mode Of Transportation

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.

Assessing the Performance of a Novel Point-of-Care Qualitative Assay for Early Diagnosis of Acute Coronary Syndrome

Cardiology ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Ronny Alcalai ◽  
Boris Varshisky ◽  
Ahmad Marhig ◽  
David Leibowitz ◽  
Larissa Kogan-Boguslavsky ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Acute Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Chest Pain ◽  
Diagnostic Accuracy ◽  
Diagnostic Performance ◽  
Troponin I ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
Final Diagnosis ◽  
Cardiac Biomarkers ◽  
Fatty Acid Binding ◽  
Coronary Syndrome

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Early and accurate diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is essential for initiating lifesaving interventions. In this article, the diagnostic performance of a novel point-of-care rapid assay (SensAheart<sup>©</sup>) is analyzed. This assay qualitatively determines the presence of 2 cardiac biomarkers troponin I and heart-type fatty acid-binding protein that are present soon after onset of myocardial injury. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> We conducted a prospective observational study of consecutive patients who presented to the emergency department with typical chest pain. Simultaneous high-sensitive cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) and SensAheart testing was performed upon hospital admission. Diagnostic accuracy was computed using SensAheart or hs-cTnT levels versus the final diagnosis defined as positive/negative. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Of 225 patients analyzed, a final diagnosis of ACS was established in 138 patients, 87 individuals diagnosed with nonischemic chest pain. In the overall population, as compared to hs-cTnT, the sensitivity of the initial SensAheart assay was significantly higher (80.4 vs. 63.8%, <i>p</i> = 0.002) whereas specificity was lower (78.6 vs. 95.4%, <i>p</i> = 0.036). The overall diagnostic accuracy of SensAheart assay was similar to the hs-cTnT (82.7% compared to 76.0%, <i>p</i> = 0.08). <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Upon first medical contact, the novel point-of-care rapid SensAheart assay shows a diagnostic performance similar to hs-cTnT. The combination of 2 cardiac biomarkers in the same kit allows for very early detection of myocardial damage. The SensAheart assay is a reliable and practical tool for ruling-in the diagnosis of ACS.

scholarly journals Changing in the profile of a patient with acute coronary syndrome without ST-segment elevation over the years 2015-2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 94-98
Author(s):  
O.S. Shchukina
Keyword(s):  
Acute Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Clinical Laboratory ◽  
Clinical Status ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
St Segment Elevation ◽  
Coronary Syndrome ◽  
St Segment ◽  
Number Of Patients ◽  
Noteworthy Feature ◽  
Risk Patients

The article represents an analysis of the dynamics of the main demographic, clinical, laboratory, and instrumental investigations, final diagnoses of patients who were hospitalized with a diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome without ST segment elevation. A distinctive feature of the work is the recruitment of patients in the same medical institution for different periods of time, which makes possible to trace the dynamics of the clinical profile of patients in the population of Dnipro, a large industrial center of Ukraine. The prevalence of arterial hypertension, chronic heart failure and previous myocardial infarction remained at the same level. In the 2017-2020’s group compared with the 2015’s group, electrocardiographic  manifestations of acute coronary syndrome without ST-segment elevation upon admission were more often detected. Laboratory indicators such as hemoglobin, creatinine and total cholesterol levels remained the same. Another interesting finding is a statistically significant decrease in the number of patients with a reduced glomerular filtration rate according to MDRD (less than 60 ml/min/1.73 m2) in the 2017-2020’s group compared to patients in 2015’s group, although the clinical course of the disease remained practically unchanged. There was a trend towards a worsening of the clinical status and prognosis, namely, increase in the prevalence of atrial fibrillation and diabetes mellitus, increase in the risk of GRACE, as well as increase in the quantity of verified diagnoses of unstable angina, which is most likely associated with the increased use of high-sensitivity troponin. Noteworthy feature is that increase in the quantity of high-risk patients led to an increase in the mean GRACE score.

PP23 Accuracy of emergency medical services (EMS) telephone triage in identifying acute coronary syndrome (ACS) for chest pain patients. A systematic review abstract

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (9) ◽  
pp. A10.2-A10
Author(s):  
Ahmed Alotaibi ◽  
Abdulrhman Alghamdi ◽  
Charles Reynard ◽  
Richard Body
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Acute Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Chest Pain ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Final Diagnosis ◽  
Telephone Triage ◽  
Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Pain Patients

IntroductionChest pain is one of the most common reasons for ambulance callouts and presentation to Emergency Departments (EDs). Differentiating patients with serious conditions (e.g. acute coronary syndrome [ACS]) from the majority, who have self-limiting, non-cardiac conditions is extremely challenging. This causes over-triage and over-use of healthcare resources. We aimed to systematically review existing evidence on the accuracy of emergency telephone triage to detect ACS or life-threatening conditions associated with chest pain.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Two independent investigators searched the Embase, Medline, and Cinahl databases for relevant papers. We included retrospective and prospective cohort studies written in English and investigating EMS telephone triage for chest pain patients linked with final diagnosis of ACS. Studies were summarised in a narrative format as the data were not suitable for meta-analysis.ResultIn total, 553 studies were identified from the literature search and cross-referencing. After excluding 550 studies, three were eligible for inclusion. Among those 3 studies, there are different prediction models developed by authors with variation in variables to detect ACS. The result showed that dispatch triage tools have good sensitivity to detect ACS and life-threatening conditions although they are used to triage sign and symptoms rather than diagnosing the patients. On the other hand, prediction models were built to detect ACS and life-threatening conditions and therefore it showed better sensitivity and NPV.ConclusionEMS dispatch systems accuracy for ACS and life-threatening conditions associated with chest pain is good. Since the dispatch tools were built to triage ambulance response priority based on sign and symptoms, this led to over triage among non-life-threatening chest pain patients. Over triage were slightly reduced by deriving prediction models and showed better sensitivity.

scholarly journals Factors influencing physician risk estimates for acute cardiac events in emergency patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-7
Author(s):  
Jaimi H Greenslade ◽  
Nicolas Sieben ◽  
William A Parsonage ◽  
Thomas Knowlman ◽  
Lorcan Ruane ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Acute Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Chest Pain ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Pretest Probability ◽  
Emergency Physicians ◽  
Cardiac Events ◽  
Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Risk Estimates

BackgroundEmergency physicians frequently assess risk of acute cardiac events (ACEs) in patients with undifferentiated chest pain. Such estimates have been shown to have moderate to high sensitivity for ACE but are conservative. Little is known about the factors implicitly used by physicians to determine the pretest probability of risk. This study sought to identify the accuracy of physician risk estimates for ACE in patients presenting to the ED with chest pain and to identify the demographic and clinical information emergency physicians use in their determination of patient risk.MethodsThis study used data from two prospective studies of consenting adult patients presenting to the ED with symptoms of possible acute coronary syndrome. ED physicians estimated the pretest probability of ACE. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify predictors of physician risk estimates. Logistic regression was used to determine whether there was a correlation between physicians’ estimated risk and ACE.ResultsIncreasing age, male sex, abnormal ECG features, heavy/crushing chest pain and risk factors were correlated with physician risk estimates. Physician risk estimates were consistently found to be higher than the expected proportion of ACE from the sampled population.ConclusionPhysicians systematically overestimate ACE risk. A range of factors are associated with physician risk estimates. These include factors strongly predictive of ACE, such as age and ECG characteristics. They also include other factors that have been shown to be unreliable predictors of ACE in an ED setting, such as typicality of pain and risk factors.

scholarly journals Variation of Cardiac Troponin I and T Measured with Sensitive Assays in Emergency Department Patients with Noncardiac Chest Pain

2012 ◽  
Vol 58 (8) ◽  
pp. 1208-1214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Volkher Scharnhorst ◽  
Krisztina Krasznai ◽  
Marcel van 't Veer ◽  
Rolf H Michels
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Acute Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Chest Pain ◽  
Cardiac Troponin ◽  
Myocardial Necrosis ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Noncardiac Chest Pain ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Concentration Changes

Abstract BACKGROUND New-generation high-sensitivity assays for cardiac troponin have lower detection limits and less imprecision than earlier assays. Reference 99th-percentile cutoff values for these new assays are also lower, leading to higher frequencies of positive test results. When cardiac troponin concentrations are minimally increased, serial testing allows discrimination of myocardial infarction from other causes of increased cardiac troponin. We assessed various measures of short-term variation, including absolute concentration changes, reference change values (RCVs), and indices of individuality (II) for 2 cardiac troponin assays in emergency department (ED) patients. METHODS We collected blood from patients presenting with cardiac chest pain upon arrival in the ED and 2, 6, and 12 h later. Cardiac troponin was measured with the high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) assay (Roche Diagnostics) and a sensitive cTnI assay (Siemens Diagnostics). Cardiac troponin results from 67 patients without acute coronary syndrome or stable angina were used in calculating absolute changes in cardiac troponin, RCVs, and II. RESULTS The 95th percentiles for absolute change in cardiac troponin were 8.3 ng/L for hs-cTnT and 28 ng/L for cTnI. Within-individual and total CVs were 11% and 14% for hs-cTnT and 18% and 21% for cTnI, respectively. RCVs were 38% (hs-cTnT) and 57% (cTnI). The corresponding log-normal RCVs were +46%/−32% for hs-cTnT and +76%/−43% for cTnI. II values were 0.31 (cTnI) and 0.12 (hs-cTnT). CONCLUSIONS The short-term variations and IIs of cardiac troponin were low in ED patients free of ischemic myocardial necrosis. The detection of cardiac troponin variation exceeding reference thresholds can help to identify ED patients with acute myocardial necrosis whereas variation within these limits renders acute coronary syndrome unlikely.

scholarly journals Chest pain and prehospital delay

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-32
Author(s):  
Marija Stevanović ◽  
Slavoljub Živanović
Keyword(s):  
Acute Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Chest Pain ◽  
Angina Pectoris ◽  
Self Management ◽  
Antihypertensive Medications ◽  
Prehospital Delay ◽  
Coronary Syndrome ◽  
Drug Of Choice ◽  
Suspected Diagnosis

Aim was to show the duration of chest pain in patients with Angina pectoris (AP) and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) prior to reporting to the ambulance as well as the patients' self management of the pain. Materials and methods. The study was done between 1st August 2014th and 1st October 2018th in the infirmary of EMS in Belgrade. The study involved 161 patients, out of 9437 patients in total, who were treated by one doctor and with confirmed or suspected diagnosis of an ACS or AP. Results. Patients with AP most commonly waited between 2-24 hours, while the patients with ACS waited <1h from the pain onset until contacting EMS. Most patients with MI (17) as well as with AP (79) did not take any kind of therapy, while some patients administered one or more drugs in order to relieve the pain. In patients with AP, the drugs of choice were antihypertensive medications (17.42%) and in MI patients Nitroglycerin and analgesics (31.03%). All patients previously diagnosed with MI and AP have self-administered Nitroglycerin in 12.42% of cases. Conclusion. Patients with AP wait longer when having chest pain before calling EMS from patients with ACS, but their self-administered drugs of choice were antihypertensive medications. Nitroglycerine as the first appropriate drug of choice is used less and in most cases patients even do not have it readily available.

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