Document Detail


CT angiography for safe discharge of patients with possible acute coronary syndromes.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  22449295     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
BACKGROUND: Admission rates among patients presenting to emergency departments with possible acute coronary syndromes are high, although for most of these patients, the symptoms are ultimately found not to have a cardiac cause. Coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) has a very high negative predictive value for the detection of coronary disease, but its usefulness in determining whether discharge of patients from the emergency department is safe is not well established.
METHODS: We randomly assigned low-to-intermediate-risk patients presenting with possible acute coronary syndromes, in a 2:1 ratio, to undergo CCTA or to receive traditional care. Patients were enrolled at five centers in the United States. Patients older than 30 years of age with a Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction risk score of 0 to 2 and signs or symptoms warranting admission or testing were eligible. The primary outcome was safety, assessed in the subgroup of patients with a negative CCTA examination, with safety defined as the absence of myocardial infarction and cardiac death during the first 30 days after presentation.
RESULTS: We enrolled 1370 subjects: 908 in the CCTA group and 462 in the group receiving traditional care. The baseline characteristics were similar in the two groups. Of 640 patients with a negative CCTA examination, none died or had a myocardial infarction within 30 days (0%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0 to 0.57). As compared with patients receiving traditional care, patients in the CCTA group had a higher rate of discharge from the emergency department (49.6% vs. 22.7%; difference, 26.8 percentage points; 95% CI, 21.4 to 32.2), a shorter length of stay (median, 18.0 hours vs. 24.8 hours; P<0.001), and a higher rate of detection of coronary disease (9.0% vs. 3.5%; difference, 5.6 percentage points; 95% CI, 0 to 11.2). There was one serious adverse event in each group.
CONCLUSIONS: A CCTA-based strategy for low-to-intermediate-risk patients presenting with a possible acute coronary syndrome appears to allow the safe, expedited discharge from the emergency department of many patients who would otherwise be admitted. (Funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Health and the American College of Radiology Imaging Network Foundation; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00933400.).
Authors:
Harold I Litt; Constantine Gatsonis; Brad Snyder; Harjit Singh; Chadwick D Miller; Daniel W Entrikin; James M Leaming; Laurence J Gavin; Charissa B Pacella; Judd E Hollander
Related Documents :
22548915 - The importance of intima-media thickness (imt) measurements in monitoring of atheroscle...
21925635 - Changes in left ventricular diastolic function of asymptomatic hereditary hemochromatos...
22595405 - Appropriateness of coronary revascularization for patients without acute coronary syndr...
21995675 - Selective cerebro-myocardial perfusion in complex congenital aortic arch pathology: a n...
9066385 - Assessment of continuous cold blood cardioplegia in coronary artery bypass grafting.
9595215 - Influence of smoking status on progression of endothelial dysfunction. trend investigat...
Publication Detail:
Type:  Comparative Study; Journal Article; Multicenter Study; Randomized Controlled Trial; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't     Date:  2012-03-26
Journal Detail:
Title:  The New England journal of medicine     Volume:  366     ISSN:  1533-4406     ISO Abbreviation:  N. Engl. J. Med.     Publication Date:  2012 Apr 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2012-04-12     Completed Date:  2012-04-19     Revised Date:  2013-01-08    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0255562     Medline TA:  N Engl J Med     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  1393-403     Citation Subset:  AIM; IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. harold.litt@uphs.upenn.edu
Data Bank Information
Bank Name/Acc. No.:
ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT00933400
Export Citation:
APA/MLA Format     Download EndNote     Download BibTex
MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Acute Coronary Syndrome / mortality,  radiography*
Adult
Aged
Confidence Intervals
Coronary Angiography* / methods
Coronary Disease / diagnosis,  radiography*,  therapy
Female
Health Resources / utilization
Hospitalization
Humans
Length of Stay
Male
Middle Aged
Myocardial Infarction / epidemiology
Patient Discharge
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
Comments/Corrections
Comment In:
N Engl J Med. 2012 Jul 5;367(1):83; author reply 85-6   [PMID:  22762327 ]
N Engl J Med. 2012 Jul 5;367(1):84-5; author reply 85-6   [PMID:  22762330 ]
N Engl J Med. 2012 Jul 5;367(1):84; author reply 85-6   [PMID:  22762329 ]
N Engl J Med. 2012 Jul 5;367(1):85; author reply 85-6   [PMID:  22762331 ]
N Engl J Med. 2012 Jul 5;367(1):83-4; author reply 85-6   [PMID:  22762328 ]
N Engl J Med. 2012 Jul 26;367(4):375-6   [PMID:  22830468 ]
Curr Cardiol Rep. 2012 Oct;14(5):537-9   [PMID:  22890753 ]
Diagn Interv Imaging. 2012 Nov;93(11):811-2   [PMID:  23146826 ]
Am Fam Physician. 2012 Nov 15;86(10):900-4   [PMID:  23157143 ]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


Previous Document:  Current Status of Off-Pump Coronary-Artery Bypass.
Next Document:  Off-pump or on-pump coronary-artery bypass grafting at 30 days.