A 90-second chest scan could be a game-changer for triaging patients who present to the emergency department with undiagnosed chest pain, according to research out of Detroit.
Writing in the International Journal of Cardiology: Heart and Vasculature, lead author Margarita Pena, MD, and colleagues at Ascension St. John Hospital at Wayne State University School of Medicine said chest pain is one of the most common complaints in the ED—so common, in fact, that it’s the reason some 8 to 10 million Americans make a trip to the emergency room each year. And in such a high-stakes environment, it can be difficult to discern which cases are cardiac-related and need immediate attention.