Transitioning to high-sensitivity troponin: 1-year mortality outcomes in patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome presenting to emergency departments.

Background: Switching from a conventional to a high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) assay enables detection of smaller amounts of myocardial damage, but the clinical benefit is unclear. We investigated whether switching to a hs-cTnI assay with a sex-specific 99th centile diagnostic threshold was associated with lower 1-year death or new myocardial infarction (MI) in patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Methods: This pre-post study included nine tertiary hospitals in Australia.

Determinants of medication adherence in patients with acute coronary syndrome: a secondary analysis of a randomised clinical trial.

Background: Coronary heart disease (CHD) remains a leading cause of mortality and disability worldwide. Approximately half of the patients who have had a prior hospital admission for CHD will have a recurrent coronary event, with the majority of these occurring within 12 months. Despite well-established evidence-based therapies, medication non-adherence is highly prevalent and reasons for medication non-adherence are poorly understood.

Single high-sensitivity troponin-I for ruling out acute coronary syndrome: a detection limit approach.

Aims: The aim of this study was determine the incidence of major adverse cardiac events within 30 and 365-days among patients discharged from emergency departments (EDs), following a single high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I test result below or close to the limits of detection (LoD).

Methods And Results: Patients ≥20 years old who presented to four EDs from mid-2014 to end-2015, underwent a single high-sensitivity troponin test and were discharged were included. Data from ED presentations, hospital admissions, mortality records, and pathology laboratories were linked and harmonized.

Calcific Aortic Stenosis: A Review.

Importance: Calcific aortic stenosis (AS) restricts the aortic valve opening during systole due to calcification and fibrosis of either a congenital bicuspid or a normal trileaflet aortic valve. In the US, AS affects 1% to 2% of adults older than 65 years and approximately 12% of adults older than 75 years. Worldwide, AS leads to more than 100 000 deaths annually.

Determinants and Outcomes of Invasive Coronary Angiography in Unselected Patients Presenting With Chest Pain to Emergency Departments in Western Australian Teaching Hospitals.

Background: Chest pain is a common cause of presentation to the emergency department (ED), and its outcomes are affected by various diagnostic tests and timely management. Our aim was to identify determinants of invasive coronary angiography (ICA) in a chest pain cohort following ED presentation, and to compare outcomes by time to ICA.

Methods: We identified all adults aged ≥20 years presenting with chest pain to public teaching hospital EDs in Perth, Western Australia, from 1 January 2016 to 31 March 2017.