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MONDAY, June 25, 2018 (HealthDay News) — For patients presenting to the emergency department with chest pain, a smaller proportion are hospitalized after undergoing stress echocardiography (SE) versus coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA), according to a study published online June 13 in JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Jeffrey M. Levsky, M.D., Ph.D., from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, N.Y., and colleagues randomized low-to-intermediate-risk emergency department acute chest pain patients without known coronary artery disease and a negative initial serum troponin level to immediate CCTA (201 patients) or SE (199 patients).<\/p>\n
The researchers found that 19 and 11 percent of CCTA and SE patients, respectively, were hospitalized at presentation (P = 0.026). For discharged patients, the median emergency department length of stay was 5.4 and 4.7 hours for CCTA and SE, respectively (P < 0.001). The median hospital length of stay was 58 and 34 hours for CCTA and SE, respectively (P = 0.002). Over a median follow-up of 24 months there were 11 and seven major adverse cardiovascular events for CCTA and SE, respectively (P = 0.47). The median\/mean complete initial work-up radiation exposure was 6.5\/7.7 and 0\/0.96 milliSieverts, respectively, for CCTA and SE (P < 0.001).<\/p>\n
“SE hospitalized a smaller proportion of patients with a shorter length of stay than CCTA and was safe. SE should be considered an appropriate option for emergency department chest pain triage,” the authors write.<\/p>\n
One author disclosed financial ties to Kryon.<\/p>\n
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