Predicting a diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome during telephone evaluation by an emergency dispatcher: the SCARE predictive scale. / Escala predictiva para el diagnóstico de síndrome coronario agudo en la atención telefónica en un centro coordinador de emergencias: escala SCARE.

OBJECTIVES: Correctly identifying patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) on first contact is essential, yet emergency dispatchers currently lack a risk scale that can help predict an ACS diagnosis. Our main aim was to develop and validate such a risk scale. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Prospective, observational single-center study in 2016 (January 1 to December 31). We included patients who called our emergency dispatch center to report nontraumatic chest pain. Included patients were randomly assigned to a development or a validation sample. The predictive SCARE scale was built with logistic regression analysis. Discrimination and calibration were analyzed by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve; calibration was assessed with the Hosmer-Lemeshow test. RESULTS: The development sample included 902 patients. The regression model identified 7 variables associated with a final diagnosis of ACS: male sex, age, smoking, typical pain characteristics, first episode of chest pain, diaphoresis, and physician intuition (the teledispatcher's suspicion). When we applied the scale in the validation sample of 465 patients the area under the curve was 0.81 (95% CI, 0.76-0.87). The Hosmer-Lemeshow statistic was 5.18 (P=.74). CONCLUSION: The SCARE scale had good discrimination and calibration properties. The scale should be further validated in an external sample from a multicenter study before it is implemented by emergency dispatch centers.

OBJETIVO: La correcta identificación en el primer contacto médico de los pacientes con un síndrome coronario agudo (SCA) es esencial. No existe ninguna escala predictiva para el diagnóstico de SCA en los centros de coordinación de emergencias (CCE) que facilite la toma de decisiones al equipo médico. El objetivo primario es construir y validar una escala de estas características. METODO: Estudio prospectivo, observacional, unicéntrico, realizado durante 1 año (2016). Se incluyeron los pacientes que consultaron telefónicamente por dolor torácico no traumático en un CCE. Los pacientes incluidos se repartieron en las muestra de derivación y validación de forma aleatoria. La escala predictiva ­escala SCARE­ se construyó mediante regresión logística, la discriminación y calibración del modelo se realizó con el cálculo del área bajo la curva (ABC) de la característica operativa del receptor y el test de Hosmer-Lemeshow. RESULTADOS: La muestra de derivación incluyó 902 pacientes y 7 de las variables recogidas se relacionaron con un diagnóstico final de SCA: sexo masculino, edad, tabaquismo, dolor torácico de características típicas, primer episodio de dolor torácico, diaforesis y la intuición del médico que realizó la entrevista telefónica. La utilización de la escala desarrollada en los 465 pacientes de la muestra de validación obtuvo un ABC de 0,81 (intervalo de confianza al 95% 0,76-0,87) y el test de Hosmer-Lemeshow fue de 5,18 (p = 0,74). CONCLUSIONES: La escala SCARE mostró una correcta discriminación y calibración. Es necesaria una validación externa multicéntrica antes de implementar su uso en los CCE.

Early High-Dose Erythropoietin Therapy After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Multicenter, Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Preliminary data suggested a clinical benefit in treating out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients with a high dose of erythropoietin (Epo) analogs. OBJECTIVES: The authors aimed to evaluate the efficacy of epoetin alfa treatment on the outcome of OHCA patients in a phase 3 trial. METHODS: The authors performed a multicenter, single-blind, randomized controlled trial. Patients still comatose after a witnessed OHCA of presumed cardiac origin were eligible. In the intervention group, patients received 5 intravenous injections spaced 12 h apart during the first 48 h (40,000 units each, resulting in a maximal dose of 200,000 total units), started as soon as possible after resuscitation. In the control group, patients received standard care without Epo. The main endpoint was the proportion of patients in each group reaching level 1 on the Cerebral Performance Category (CPC) scale (survival with no or minor neurological sequelae) at day 60. Secondary endpoints included all-cause mortality rate, distribution of patients in CPC levels at different time points, and side effects. RESULTS: In total, 476 patients were included in the primary analysis. Baseline characteristics were similar in the 2 groups. At day 60, 32.4% of patients (76 of 234) in the intervention group reached a CPC 1 level, as compared with 32.1% of patients (78 of 242) in the control group (odds ratio: 1.01; 95% confidence interval: 0.68 to 1.48). The mortality rate and proportion of patients in each CPC level did not differ at any time points. Serious adverse events were more frequent in Epo-treated patients as compared with controls (22.6% vs. 14.9%; p = 0.03), particularly thrombotic complications (12.4% vs. 5.8%; p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In patients resuscitated from an OHCA of presumed cardiac cause, early administration of erythropoietin plus standard therapy did not confer a benefit, and was associated with a higher complication rate. (High Dose of Erythropoietin Analogue After Cardiac Arrest [Epo-ACR-02]; NCT00999583).