Screening emergency room patients with perfusion imaging reduced unnecessary hospitalizations without missing patients with cardiac ischemia, according to the results of a randomized trial reported in the Dec. 4 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association. The editorialist agrees and suggests that this test should be considered for incorporation into clinical guidelines despite its limitations.
“Most patients without obvious ischemic ECG changes who are hospitalized or observed in special units ultimately prove not to have acute ischemia. Moreover, among patients discharged directly from the emergency department (ED), an important minority actually have acute ischemia, leading to unfavorable outcomes,” write James E. Udelson, MD, from Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, and colleagues. “Since the predominant pathophysiology of acute cardiac ischemia is a reduction in coronary blood flow, myocardial perfusion imaging in the ED setting is conceptually attractive.”
השאירו תגובה
רוצה להצטרף לדיון?תרגישו חופשי לתרום!