Prediction of myocardial infarction risk in older patients with acute coronary syndrome.

PURPOSES: To identify bedside variables that aid in diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and might facilitate rapid triage of patients aged > or = 65 years. BASIC PROCEDURES: Prospective, observational study of consecutive patients aged > or = 65 years with suspicion of ACS presenting to our emergency department (ED). Patients' medical characteristics were collected at baseline and during a 1-month follow-up period. We identified variables independently associated with ACS by multivariate analyses and bootstrapping techniques. MAIN FINDINGS: Among 399 patients, 124 (31.1%) received a diagnosis of ACS (61 acute myocardial infarction, 63 unstable angina). We surveyed multiple clinical and ECG variables to develop a predictive model which included the following variables: male sex, history of coronary artery disease, typical chest pain, dyspnea, epigastric pain, pathological Q-wave, ST-segment elevation (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) 0.79, 95% confidence interval 0.71 to 0.82). With the addition of cardiac troponin I to the model the AUC increased to 0.83 (0.79 to 0.88). We used these findings to create the Heart Attack Risk for aged Patient (HARP) scale. Our data suggest that patients with a low HARP score might be safely managed without further testing. PRINCIPAL CONCLUSIONS: A model based on variables easily available at ED presentation from history, physical examination, and electrocardiography, can help ED physicians to identify seniors at very low risk of ACS.

Risk stratification of early admission to the intensive care unit of patients with no major criteria of severe community-acquired pneumonia: development of an international prediction rule.

INTRODUCTION: To identify risk factors for early (< three days) intensive care unit (ICU) admission of patients hospitalised with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and not requiring immediate ICU admission, and to stratify the risk of ICU admission on days 1 to 3. METHODS: Using the original data from four North American and European prospective multicentre cohort studies of patients with CAP, we derived and validated a prediction rule for ICU admission on days 1 to 3 of emergency department (ED) presentation, for patients presenting with no obvious reason for immediate ICU admission (not requiring immediate respiratory or circulatory support). RESULTS: A total of 6560 patients were included (4593 and 1967 in the derivation and validation cohort, respectively), 303 (4.6%) of whom were admitted to an ICU on days 1 to 3. The Risk of Early Admission to ICU index (REA-ICU index) comprised 11 criteria independently associated with ICU admission: male gender, age younger than 80 years, comorbid conditions, respiratory rate of 30 breaths/minute or higher, heart rate of 125 beats/minute or higher, multilobar infiltrate or pleural effusion, white blood cell count less than 3 or 20 G/L or above, hypoxaemia (oxygen saturation < 90% or arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2) < 60 mmHg), blood urea nitrogen of 11 mmol/L or higher, pH less than 7.35 and sodium less than 130 mEq/L. The REA-ICU index stratified patients into four risk classes with a risk of ICU admission on days 1 to 3 ranging from 0.7 to 31%. The area under the curve was 0.81 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.78 to 0.83) in the overall population. CONCLUSIONS: The REA-ICU index accurately stratifies the risk of ICU admission on days 1 to 3 for patients presenting to the ED with CAP and no obvious indication for immediate ICU admission and therefore may assist orientation decisions.

Impact of point-of-care testing in the emergency department evaluation and treatment of patients with suspected acute coronary syndromes.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of point-of-care testing (POCT) for troponin I (cTnI) measurement on the time to anti-ischemic therapy (TAIT) for patients with suspected non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) presenting to the emergency department (ED). METHODS: This was an open-label, randomized, single-center trial conducted in a university-affiliated hospital. cTnI measurement of patients with suspicion of NSTE-ACS coming to the ED was randomly allocated to POCT or central hospital laboratory testing (CHLT). The authors compared patients' baseline characteristics, time to anti-ischemic therapy, and medical outcomes between the randomized groups, in all study participants and in high-risk NSTE-ACS (cTnI level >or= 0.10 microg/mL), and in those with low suspicion ACS (no chest pain and no ST deviation). RESULTS: Of the 860 patients enrolled, 113 were high-risk NSTE-ACS patients, including 53 (46.9%) allocated to POCT and 60 (53.1%) to CHLT. POCT was associated with decreased time to anti-ischemic therapy of about three-quarters of an hour, which was due to a shorter time to physician notification of cTnI level, in both all and subgroup participants. In contrast, neither ED length of stay nor medical outcomes differed between study groups. CONCLUSIONS: Point-of-care testing for cTnI measurement might be clinically relevant for ED patients with a suspicion of NSTE-ACS, particularly for high-risk patients with a low suspicion of ACS.

A single procalcitonin level does not predict adverse outcomes of women with pyelonephritis.

OBJECTIVES: Predicting medical outcomes for pyelonephritis in women is difficult, leading to unnecessary hospitalization. Unlike other serious infectious diseases, high procalcitonin (PCT) level has never been associated with 28-d adverse medical outcomes in women with pyelonephritis. Therefore, we sought to determine the accuracy of PCT in discriminating between pyelonephritis with adverse medical outcome (PAMO) and pyelonephritis without adverse medical outcome (PWAMO). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Adult women with pyelonephritis presenting to the emergency department of a French tertiary care hospital were consecutively included. Those patients who developed adverse medical outcomes during a 28-d follow-up period were identified as having PAMO. Baseline characteristics and PCT level were compared between patients with PAMO and PWAMO. RESULTS: Eleven women (19.0%) had PAMO and 47 (81%) had PWAMO. The median PCT level was higher in PAMO compared with PWAMO 0.51 ng/ml (IQR: 0.04-3.8) and 0.08 ng/ml (IQR: 0.01-1.0), but this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.07). We failed to find a threshold value for PCT that discriminated between PAMO and PWAMO (ROC, AUC=0.67 [95%CI, 0.51-0.86]). All but one subject with PAMO had either a PCT level >0.1 ng/ml or an underlying genitourinary abnormality by radiographic testing. CONCLUSIONS: A single PCT level was a poor predictor of 28-d adverse medical outcomes in women with pyelonephritis treated in the emergency department. Prediction based on underlying genitourinary abnormality by radiographic testing in addition to the PCT level should be investigated in future studies.