Abstract
Patients presenting to the emergency department with chest pain comprise a diverse group in terms of etiology and risk. Most do not have a life-threatening condition, but a low threshold for admission has resulted in large numbers of unnecessary admissions. Chest pain centers have evolved to facilitate improved management of these patients by rapid recognition and treatment of the high-risk group and triage of the low-risk group to more deliberate assessment. This approach has increasingly comprised accelerated diagnostic protocols of 6 to 12 hours by which low risk patients can be stratified into those requiring admission and those who can be discharged safely to outpatient management. This strategy has afforded safe, accurate, and efficient treatment of patients with acute chest pain of both high- and low-risk origins.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 117-136 |
Number of pages | 20 |
Journal | Cardiology clinics |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2002 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine