Imaging strategies for acute chest pain in the emergency department.

Link to article at PubMed

Imaging strategies for acute chest pain in the emergency department.

AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2013 Jan;200(1):W26-38

Authors: Dedic A, Genders TS, Nieman K, Hunink MG

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Echocardiography, radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI), and coronary CT angiography (CTA) are the three main imaging techniques used in the emergency department for the diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The purpose of this article is to quantitatively examine existing evidence about the diagnostic performance of these imaging tests in this setting. CONCLUSION: Our systematic search of the medical literature showed no significant difference between the modalities for the detection of ACS in the emergency department. There was a slight, positive trend favoring coronary CTA. Given the absence of large differences in diagnostic performance, practical aspects such as local practice, expertise, medical facilities, and individual patient characteristics may be more important.

PMID: 23255769 [PubMed - in process]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *