Loading...
Admission to emergency department (ED) observation units for suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS) usually is reserved for patients considered to be at low risk. In a prospective trial at an ED in North Carolina, 110 patients considered to be at intermediate or high risk for ACS on the basis of risk factors or known coronary artery disease (but with negative electrocardiograms and initial biomarkers) were randomized to traditional inpatient care or to ED observation unit care with stress cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Clinical and demographic characteristics were similar in the two groups.
Most patients (72%) who were randomized to inpatient care underwent stress testing, usually stress echocardiography, whereas most patients (9…