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INTRODUCTION: Sleep is the physiological state of the body where proper morphology and duration are indispensable for human functions throughout both, physical and mental spheres. Disordered breathing during sleep impairs its morphology and results in major disorders in any age group. Adverse effects of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome in children and poor availability of centers offering children's polysomnography call for a reliable and easily accessible screening method. AIM: The aim of the study were to evaluate the usefulness of pulse transit time in the diagnostics of disordered sleep breathing in children and to attempt to employ the parameter in screening tests. Pulse transit time is a physiological parameter determining the time needed for the pulse wave to travel between two measurement points. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Enrolled in the retrospective study were 153 patients (100 boys and 53 girls) suspected of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome who underwent polysomnography at I. Moscicki ENT Hospital in Chorzów. RESULTS: Statistically significant relations between apnea/hypopnea index and pulse transit time were observed in both, individual age groups and all of the patients. Pulse transit time results proved a negative correlation with apnea/hypopnea index values commonly accepted as a parameter concluding the polysomnography procedures. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the study indicate that pulse transit time measurements may find application in screening tests of sleep-disordered breathing in children.

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OBJECTIVES: The aim was to investigate the prognostic accuracy of admission ECG and its usefulness in determining the population at the highest risk of worse outcomes. BACKGROUND: Fast and accurate assessment of chest pain patients remains a challenge for clinicians. Electrocardiogram (ECG) is performed in each case of suspicion of the cardiac origin of chest pain. METHODS: Consecutive adult chest pain patients with suspicion of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) were enrolled in the study. The prognostic value of admission ECG changes alone and in combination with other clinical variables (cardiac troponin, diagnosis of AMI) were analyzed for the incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in a one­year observation. RESULTS: The ischemic pattern on admission ECG was a single risk factor of MACE (HR 2.996 95% CI 1.31-6.86, p = 0.009), contrary to the single admission high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T assay (hs-cTnT) (HR 1.79 95% CI 0.695-4.61). The highest risk of MACE was identified in case of the presence of both ischemic-ECG and positive hs-cTnT (HR 3.19 95% CI 1.496-6.81, p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: The presence of ischemic changes in ECG in chest pain population with AMI suspicion increases the risk of MACE. The group at highest risk of MACE can by identified by the additional stratification with the admission single hs-TnT measurement (Tab. 2, Fig. 4, Ref. 40). Text in PDF www.elis.sk Keywords: acute coronary syndromes, cardiac troponin, electrocardiogram, emergency department, chest pain.

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Systemic lupus erythematosus is a chronic connective tissue disease associated with an increased risk of premature atherosclerosis. It is estimated that approximately 10% of SLE patients develop significant atherosclerosis each year, which is responsible for premature cardiovascular disease that is largely asymptomatic. This review summarizes the most recent reports from the past few years on biomarkers of atherosclerosis in SLE, mainly focusing on immune markers. Persistent chronic inflammation of the vascular wall is an important cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events related to endothelial dysfunction, cell proliferation, impaired production and function of nitric oxide and microangiopathic changes. Studies on pathogenic immune mediators involved in atherosclerosis will be crucial research avenues for preventing CVD.

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BACKGROUND: The Canadian Syncope Risk Score (CSRS) was developed to predict 30-day serious outcomes not evident during emergency department (ED) evaluation. OBJECTIVE: To externally validate the CSRS and compare it with another validated score, the Osservatorio Epidemiologico della Sincope nel Lazio (OESIL) score. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Large, international, multicenter study recruiting patients in EDs in 8 countries on 3 continents. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with syncope aged 40 years or older presenting to the ED within 12 hours of syncope. MEASUREMENTS: Composite outcome of serious clinical plus procedural events (primary outcome) and the primary composite outcome excluding procedural interventions (secondary outcome). RESULTS: Among 2283 patients with a mean age of 68 years, the primary composite outcome occurred in 7.2%, and the composite outcome excluding procedural interventions occurred in 3.1% at 30 days. Prognostic performance of the CSRS was good for both 30-day composite outcomes and better compared with the OESIL score (area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve [AUC], 0.85 [95% CI, 0.83 to 0.88] vs. 0.74 [CI, 0.71 to 0.78] and 0.80 [CI, 0.75 to 0.84] vs. 0.69 [CI, 0.64 to 0.75], respectively). Safety of triage, as measured by the frequency of the primary composite outcome in the low-risk group, was higher using the CSRS (19 of 1388 [0.6%]) versus the OESIL score (17 of 1104 [1.5%]). A simplified model including only the clinician classification of syncope (cardiac syncope, vasovagal syncope, or other) variable at ED discharge-a component of the CSRS-achieved similar discrimination as the CSRS (AUC, 0.83 [CI, 0.80 to 0.87] for the primary composite outcome). LIMITATION: Unable to disentangle the influence of other CSRS components on clinician classification of syncope at ED discharge. CONCLUSION: This international external validation of the CSRS showed good performance in identifying patients at low risk for serious outcomes outside of Canada and superior performance compared with the OESIL score. However, clinician classification of syncope at ED discharge seems to explain much of the performance of the CSRS in this study. The clinical utility of the CSRS remains uncertain. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: Swiss National Science Foundation & Swiss Heart Foundation.

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Objectives: This study aims to assess variables concerning arterial stiffness including carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, carotid-radial pulse wave velocity, ankle-brachial index, and the advancement of atherosclerosis development. Patients and methods: Between October 2016 and December 2020, a total of 43 consecutive patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (4 males, 39 females; mean age: 57±8 years; range, 42 to 65 years) were prospectively included in the study. All data were compared between the group treated with glucocorticoids and that not treated with these agents. Results: The study group consisted of 43 patients with SLE, while 22 (51%) patients were treated with glucocorticoids. The mean duration of SLE was 12.3±5.3 years. Patients treated with glucocorticoids had lower values of ankle-brachial index compared to those who were not treated with glucocorticoids (p=0.041), although the values were within the range. A similar situation was reported for the carotid-femoral artery pulse wave velocity (p=0.032). However, carotid-radial artery pulse wave velocity was not significantly different between both groups (p=0.12). Conclusion: Properly selected therapy is important in the prevention of CVD.

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Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of bifurcation lesions is a technical challenge associated with high risk of adverse events, especially in primary PCI. The aim of the study is to analyze long-term outcomes after PCI for coronary bifurcation in acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The outcome was defined as the rate of major adverse cardiac event related to target lesion failure (MACE-TLF) (death-TLF, nonfatal myocardial infarction-TLF and target lesion revascularization (TLR)) and the rate of stent thrombosis (ST). From 306 patients enrolled to the registry, 113 were diagnosed with AMI. In the long term, AMI was not a risk factor for MACE-TLF. The risk of MACE-TLF was dependent on the culprit lesion, especially in the right coronary artery (RCA) and side branch (SB) with a diameter >3 mm. When PCI was performed in the SB, the inflation pressure in SB remained the single risk factor of poor prognosis. The rate of cumulative ST driven by late ST in AMI was dependent on the inflation pressure in the main branch (MB). In conclusion, PCI of bifurcation culprit lesions should be performed carefully in case of RCA and large SB diameter and attention should be paid to high inflation pressure in the SB. On the contrary, the lower the inflation pressure in the MB, the higher the risk of ST.

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The diagnosis ofcoronary artery disease, which is one of the most common causes of death and disability worldwide, still remains a significant problem for clinicians. High­sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs­cTn) assays became the cornerstone in the diagnostic workup of acute myocardial infarction. Nowadays, they take an important position in diagnostic algorithms. However, there are still some unexplained issues in this field.This review summarizes and emphasizes the crucial role of hs­cTn in acute coronary syndromes. The 0/1­hour hs­cTn algorithm was mentioned for the first time in the 2015 official European Society of Cardiology guidelines on non-ST­segment­elevation acute coronary syndromes. It was derived, validated, and implemented for all clinically­available assays since then. In this review, troponin­based strategies for rapid rule­out or rule­in of non-ST­segment elevation myocardial infarction are gathered and compared with the update on the official European Society of Cardiology 0/1­hour pathway with the most recent values of hs­cTn. The document also focuses on the problem of possible analytic confounders (false­­positive and false­negative results) and compares the usefulness of cTn to other diagnostic techniques (eg, magnetic resonance imaging). The review is divided into short, easy­to­read sections emphasizing 6 key messages on how to use and interpret hs­cTn base algorithms in clinical practice at the emergency department.

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Long-term outcome after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) depends on vessel diameter; however, there is insufficient evidence on particular drug-eluting stent (DES) types in this setting. The aim of the study was to assess long-term performance of PCI depending on stented vessel size and DES generations. This observational study from a prospective Registry of PCI with DES assessed safety (stent thrombosis) and efficacy (major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular event (MACCE)) of the implantation of first- (DES1) or second-generation DESs (DES2) in small and large vessels. Of 699 patients included in the analysis, 337 (48%) patients underwent PCI in small vessels. PCI in small vessels, especially the left anterior descending artery (LAD) (hazard ratio (HR) 2.6, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.5-4.5), was associated with a higher rate of MACCEs than that in large vessels (20% vs. 14%, p = 0.025) with no difference in the rate of stent thrombosis (ST). No significant difference in safety and efficacy was found between DES1 and DES2 in small vessels. For large vessels, a higher incidence of MACCEs (21% vs. 9.2%, p = 0.002) driven by a higher rate of re-PCI (15% vs. 6%, p = 0.006) and a higher rate of cumulative stent thrombosis (3.5% vs. 0.5%, p = 0.04) was shown for DES1 than DES2. In multivariate analysis, DES1 was a significant risk factor for MACCEs in large, but not in small vessels. The risk of PCI in small vessels, especially LAD, remains high independent of the type of DES. In contrast, DES2 as a modifiable variable during PCI of a large lesion might improve long-term prognosis.

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BACKGROUND: Recent advances in digital electrocardiography technology allow evaluating ST-segment deviations in all 12 leads as quantitative variables and calculating summed ST-segment deviation scores. The diagnostic and prognostic utility of summed ST-segment deviation scores is largely unknown. METHODS: We aimed to explore the diagnostic and prognostic utility of the conventional and the modified ST-segment deviation score (Better Analysis of ST-segment Elevations and Depressions in a 12- Lead-ECG-Score (BASEL-Score): sum of elevations in the augmented voltage right - lead (aVR) plus absolute, unsigned ST-segment depressions in the remaining leads) in patients presenting with suspected non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. The diagnostic endpoint was non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, adjudicated by two independent cardiologists. Prognostic endpoint was mortality during two-year follow up. RESULTS: Among 1330 patients, non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction was present in 200 (15%) patients. Diagnostic accuracy for non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction as quantified by the area under the receiver-operating-characteristics curve was significantly higher for the BASEL-Score (0.73; 95% confidence interval 0.69-0.77) as compared to the conventional ST-segment deviation score (0.53; 95% confidence interval 0.49-0.57, p<0.001). The BASEL-Score provided additional independent diagnostic value to dichotomous electrocardiogram variables (ST-segment depression, T-inversion, both p<0.001) and to high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (p<0.001) as well as clinical judgment at 90 min (p<0.001). Similarly, only the BASEL-Score proved to be an independent predictor of two year mortality. CONCLUSIONS: The modified ST-segment deviation score BASEL-Score focusing on ST-segment elevation in aVR and ST-segment depressions in the remaining leads provides incremental diagnostic and prognostic information.

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OBJECTIVE: Patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the setting of left bundle branch block (LBBB) present an important diagnostic and therapeutic challenge to the clinician. METHODS: We prospectively evaluated the incidence of AMI and diagnostic performance of specific ECG and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) criteria in patients presenting with chest discomfort to 26 emergency departments in three international, prospective, diagnostic studies. The final diagnosis of AMI was centrally adjudicated by two independent cardiologists according to the universal definition of myocardial infarction. RESULTS: Among 8830 patients, LBBB was present in 247 (2.8%). AMI was the final diagnosis in 30% of patients with LBBB, with similar incidence in those with known LBBB versus those with presumably new LBBB (29% vs 35%, p=0.42). ECG criteria had low sensitivity (1%-12%) but high specificity (95%-100%) for AMI. The diagnostic accuracy as quantified by the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve of hs-cTnT and hs-cTnI concentrations at presentation (area under the ROC curve (AUC) 0.91, 95% CI 0.85 to 0.96 and AUC 0.89, 95% CI 0.83 to 0.95), as well as that of their 0/1-hour and 0/2-hour changes, was very high. A diagnostic algorithm combining ECG criteria with hs-cTnT/I concentrations and their absolute changes at 1 hour or 2 hours derived in cohort 1 (45 of 45(100%) patients with AMI correctly identified) showed high efficacy and accuracy when externally validated in cohorts 2 and 3 (28 of 29 patients, 97%). CONCLUSION: Most patients presenting with suspected AMI and LBBB will be found to have diagnoses other than AMI. Combining ECG criteria with hs-cTnT/I testing at 0/1 hour or 0/2 hours allows early and accurate diagnosis of AMI in LBBB. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: APACE: NCT00470587; ADAPT: ACTRN12611001069943; TRAPID-AMI: RD001107;Results.

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OBJECTIVE: Assess the relative incidence and compare characteristics and outcome of unstable angina (UA) and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). DESIGN: Two independent prospective multicentre diagnostic studies (Advantageous Predictors of Acute Coronary Syndromes Evaluation [APACE] and High-Sensitivity Troponin in the Evaluation of Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome [High-STEACS]) enrolling patients with acute chest discomfort presenting to the emergency department. Central adjudication of the final diagnosis was done by two independent cardiologists using all clinical information including serial measurements of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn). All-cause death and future non-fatal MI were assessed at 30 days and 1 year. RESULTS: 8992 patients were enrolled at 11 centres. UA was adjudicated in 8.9%(95% CI 8.0 to 9.7) and 2.8% (95% CI 2.3 to 3.3) patients in APACE and High-STEACS, respectively, and NSTEMI in 15.1% (95% CI 14.0 to 16.2) and 13.4% (95% CI 12.4 to 14.3). Coronary artery disease was pre-existing in 73% and 76% of patients with UA. At 30 days, all-cause mortality in UA was substantially lower as compared with NSTEMI (0.5% vs 3.7%, p=0.002 in APACE, 0.7% vs 7.4%, p=0.004 in High-STEACS). Similarly, at 1 year in UA all-cause mortality was 3.3% (95% CI 1.2 to 5.3) vs 10.4% (95% CI 7.9 to 12.9) in APACE, and 5.1% (95% CI 0.7 to 9.5) vs 22.9% (95% CI 19.3 to 26.4) in High-STEACS, and similar to non-cardiac chest pain (NCCP). In contrast, future non-fatal MI in APACE was comparable in UA and NSTEMI (11.2%, 95% CI 7.8 to 14.6 and 7.9%, 95% CI 5.7 to 10.2), and higher than in NCCP (0.6%, 95% CI 0.2 to 1.0). CONCLUSIONS: The relative incidence and mortality of UA is substantially lower than that of NSTEMI, while the rate of future non-fatal MI is similar.

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BACKGROUND: The utility of BNP (B-type natriuretic peptide), NT-proBNP (N-terminal proBNP), and hs-cTn (high-sensitivity cardiac troponin) concentrations for diagnosis and risk-stratification of syncope is incompletely understood. METHODS: We evaluated the diagnostic and prognostic accuracy of BNP, NT-proBNP, hs-cTnT, and hs-cTnI concentrations, alone and against those of clinical assessments, in patients >45-years old presenting with syncope to the emergency department in a prospective diagnostic multicenter study. BNP, NT-proBNP, hs-cTnT and hs-cTnI concentrations were measured in a blinded fashion. Cardiac syncope, as adjudicated by 2 physicians based on all information available including cardiac work-up and 1-year follow-up, was the diagnostic end point. EGSYS (Evaluation of Guidelines in Syncope Study), a syncope-specific diagnostic score, served as the diagnostic comparator. Death and major adverse cardiac events at 30 and 720 days were the prognostic end points. Major adverse cardiac events were defined as death, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, life-threatening arrhythmia, implantation of pacemaker/implantable cardioverter defibrillator, acute myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism, stroke/transient ischemic attack, intracranial bleeding, or valvular surgery. ROSE (Risk Stratification of Syncope in the Emergency Department), OESIL (Osservatorio Epidemiologico della Sincope nel Lazio), SFSR (San Fransisco Syncope Rule), and CSRS (Canadian Syncope Risk Score) served as the prognostic comparators. RESULTS: Among 1538 patients eligible for diagnostic assessment, cardiac syncope was the adjudicated diagnosis in 234 patients (15.2%). BNP, NT-proBNP, hs-cTnT, and hs-cTnI were significantly higher in cardiac syncope versus other causes (P<0.01). The diagnostic accuracy for cardiac syncope, as quantified by the area under the curve, was 0.77 to 0.78 (95% CI, 0.74-0.81) for all 4 biomarkers, and superior to EGSYS (area under the curve, 0.68 [95%-CI 0.65-0.71], P<0.001). Combining BNP/NT-proBNP with hs-cTnT/hs-cTnI further improved diagnostic accuracy to an area under the curve of 0.81 (P<0.01). BNP, NT-proBNP, hs-cTnT, and hs-cTnI cut-offs, achieving predefined thresholds for sensitivity and specificity (95%), allowed for rule-in or rule-out of ≈30% of all patients. A total of 450 major adverse cardiac events occurred during follow-up. The prognostic accuracy of BNP, NT-proBNP, hs-cTnI, and hs-cTnT for major adverse cardiac events was moderate-to-good (area under the curve, 0.75-0.79), superior to ROSE, OESIL, and SFSR, and inferior to CSRS. CONCLUSIONS: BNP, NT-proBNP, hs-cTnT, and hs-cTnI concentrations provide useful diagnostic and prognostic information in emergency department patients with syncope. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: https://www. CLINICALTRIALS: gov. Unique identifier: NCT01548352.

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This study is aimed at assessing trends and relations between total ischemic time, the major quality measure of systemic delay, and case-fatality at the population or patient level in response to growing cardiovascular risk and a constant need to shorten the time to treatment in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Data from a prospective nationwide registry of STEMI patients admitted between 2006 and 2013 who were treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were analyzed. Total ischemic time was calculated as the time from the onset of symptoms to primary PCI and was determined as individual and annual. The primary end-point was one-year, all-cause case-fatality. Among the total 70,093 analyzed patients, temporal trends showed significant decrease in total ischemic time (268 vs. 230 minutes, p < 0.001), a worsening of the risk profile and an increase in one-year case-fatality (7.1% vs. 10.8%, p < 0.001). In the multivariate analysis, longer individual total ischemic time was a risk factor for higher mortality (HR 1.024, 95%CI 1.015⁻1.034, p < 0.001) and remained significant after adjustment for the year of admission. An inverse relation was observed for the median annual time (HR 0.992, 95%CI 0.989⁻0.994, p < 0.001). Thus, the observed increasing annual trends in case-fatality cannot directly measure the quality of STEMI network performance.

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BACKGROUND: We desired to determine cardiac troponin (cTn) concentrations necessary to achieve a positive predictive value (PPV) of ≥75% for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) to justify immediate admission of patients to a monitored unit and, in general, early coronary angiography. METHODS: In a prospective multicenter diagnostic study enrolling patients presenting to the emergency department with symptoms suggestive of AMI, final diagnoses were adjudicated by 2 independent cardiologists based on clinical information including cardiac imaging. cTn concentrations were measured using 5 different sensitive and high-sensitivity cTn (hs-cTn) assays in a blinded fashion at presentation and serially thereafter. The diagnostic end point was PPV for rule-in of AMI of initial cTn concentrations alone and in combination with early changes. RESULTS: Among 3828 patients, 616 (16%) had an AMI. At presentation, 7% to 14% of patients had cTnT/I concentrations associated with a PPV of ≥75%. Adding absolute or relative changes did not significantly further increase the PPV. PPVs increased from 46.5% (95% CI, 43.6-49.4) for hs-cTnT at presentation >14 ng/L to 78.9% (95% CI, 74.7-82.5) for >52 ng/L (P < 0.001), whereas PPVs in higher hs-cTnT strata remained largely unchanged [e.g., 82.4% (95% CI, 77.5-86.7) for >80 ng/L vs 83.9% (95% CI, 76.0-90.1) for >200 ng/L (P = 0.72)]. The addition of early changes in hs-cTnT further increased the PPV up to 60 ng/L, but not for higher concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: Serial sampling does not seem necessary for predicting AMI and concurrent decision-making in about 10% of patients, as it only marginally increases the PPV for AMI and not in a statistically or clinically significant way. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: NCT00470587.

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BACKGROUND: The clinical availability of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) has enabled the development of several innovative strategies for the rapid rule-out of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Due to the lack of direct comparisons, selection of the best strategy for clinical practice is challenging. METHODS: In a prospective international multicenter diagnostic study enrolling 3696 patients presenting with suspected AMI to the emergency department, we compared the safety and efficacy of 14 different hs-cTn-based strategies: hs-cTn concentrations below the limit of detection (LoD), dual-marker combining hs-cTn with copeptin, ESC 0 h/1 h-algorithm, 0 h/2 h-algorithm, 2 h-ADP-algorithm, NICE-algorithm, and ESC 0 h/3 h-algorithm, each using either hs-cTnT or hs-cTnI. The final diagnosis of AMI was adjudicated by two independent cardiologists using all available clinical information including cardiac imaging and serial hs-cTn concentrations. RESULTS: AMI was the final diagnosis in 16% of patients. Using hs-cTnT, safety quantified by the negative predictive value (NPV) and sensitivity was very high (99.8-100% and 99.5-100%) and comparable for all strategies, except the dual-marker approach (NPV 98.7%, sensitivity 96.7%). Similarly, using hs-cTnI, safety quantified by the NPV and sensitivity was very high (99.7-100% and 98.9-100%) and comparable for all strategies, except the dual-marker approach (NPV 96.9%, sensitivity 90.4%) and the NICE-algorithm (NPV 99.1%, sensitivity 94.7%). Efficacy, quantified by the percentage of patients eligible for rule-out, differed markedly, and was lowest for LoD-algorithm (15.7-26.8%). CONCLUSION: All rapid rule-out algorithms, except the dual-marker strategy and the NICE-algorithm using hs-cTnI, favorably combine safety and efficacy, and can be considered for routine clinical practice. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT00470587, http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00470587.

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BACKGROUND: Clinical short-term risk stratification is a recommended approach in patients with chest pain and possible acute myocardial infarction (AMI) to further improve high safety of biomarker-based rule-out algorithms. The study aim was to assess clinical performance of baseline concentrations of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-TnT) and copeptin and the modified HEART score (mHS) in early presenters to the emergency department with chest pain. METHODS: This cohort study included patients with chest pain with onset maximum of 6 h before admission and no persistent ST-segment elevation on electrocardiogram. hs-TnT, copeptin, and the mHS were assessed from admission data. The diagnostic and prognostic value for three baseline rule-out algorithms: (1) single hs-TnT < 14 ng/l, (2) hs-TnT < 14 ng/l/mHS ≤ 3, and (3) hs-TnT < 14 ng/l/mHS ≤ 3/copeptin < 17.4 pmol/l, was assessed with sensitivity and negative predictive value. Primary diagnostic endpoint was the diagnosis of AMI. Prognostic endpoint was death and/or AMI within 30 days. RESULTS: Among 154 enrolled patients, 44 (29%) were classified as low-risk according to the mHS; AMI was diagnosed in 105 patients (68%). For ruling out AMI, the highest sensitivity and NPV from all studied algorithms were observed for hs-TnT/mHS/copeptin (100%, 95% CI 96.6-100, and 100%, 95% CI 75.3-100). At 30 days, the highest event-free survival was achieved in patients stratified with hs-TnT/mHS/copeptin algorithm (100%) with 100% (95% CI 75.3-100) NPV and 100% (95% CI 96.6-100) sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of baseline hs-TnT, copeptin, and the mHS has an excellent sensitivity and NPV for short-term risk stratification. Such approach might improve the triage system in emergency departments and be a bridge for inclusion to serial blood sampling algorithms.

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Aims: We aimed to evaluate the impact of age on the performance of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) 0/1h-algorithms and to derive and externally validate alternative cut-offs specific to older patients. Methods and results: We prospectively enrolled patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with symptoms suggestive of acute myocardial infarction in three large diagnostic studies. Final diagnoses were adjudicated by two independent cardiologists. High-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) T and I concentrations were measured at presentation and after 1 h. Patients were stratified according to age [<55 years (young), ≥55 to <70 years (middle-age), ≥70 years (old)]. Rule-out safety of the ESC hs-cTnT 0/1h-algorithm was very high in all age-strata: sensitivity 100% [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 94.9-100] in young, 99.3% (95% CI 96.0-99.9) in middle-age, and 99.3% (95% CI 97.5-99.8) in old patients. Accuracy of rule-in decreased with age: specificity 97.0% (95% CI 95.8-97.9) in young, 96.1% (95% CI 94.5-97.2) in middle-age, and 92.7% (95% CI 90.7-94.3) in older patients. Triage efficacy decreased with increasing age (young 93%, middle-age 80%, old 55%, P < 0.001). Similar results were found for the ESC hs-cTnT 0/1h-algorithm. Alternative, slightly higher cut-off concentrations optimized for older patients maintained very high safety of rule-out, increased specificity of rule-in (P < 0.01), reduced overall efficacy for hs-cTnT (P < 0.01), while maintaining efficacy for hs-cTnI. Findings were confirmed in two validation cohorts (n = 2767). Conclusion: While safety of the ESC 0/1h-algorithms remained very high, increasing age significantly reduced overall efficacy and the accuracy of rule-in. Alternative slightly higher cut-off concentrations may be considered for older patients, particularly if using hs-cTnI. Clinical Trial Registration: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00470587, number NCT00470587 and NCT02355457 (BACC).

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BACKGROUND: Various scores have been derived for the assessment of syncope patients in the emergency department (ED) but stay inconsistently validated. We aim to compare their performance to the one of a common, easy-to-use CHADS2 score. METHODS: We prospectively enrolled patients ≥ 40 years old presenting with syncope to the ED in a multicenter study. Early clinical judgment (ECJ) of the treating ED-physician regarding the probability of cardiac syncope was quantified. Two independent physicians adjudicated the final diagnosis after 1-year follow-up. Major cardiovascular events (MACE) and death were recorded during 2 years of follow-up. Nine scores were compared by their area under the receiver-operator characteristics curve (AUC) for death, MACE or the diagnosis of cardiac syncope. RESULTS: 1490 patients were available for score validation. The CHADS2-score presented a higher or equally high accuracy for death in the long- and short-term follow-up than other syncope-specific risk scores. This score also performed well for the prediction of MACE in the long- and short-term evaluation and stratified patients with accuracy comparative to OESIL, one of the best performing syncope-specific risk score. All scores performed poorly for diagnosing cardiac syncope when compared to the ECJ. CONCLUSIONS: The CHADS2-score performed comparably to more complicated syncope-specific risk scores in the prediction of death and MACE in ED syncope patients. While better tools incorporating biochemical and electrocardiographic markers are needed, this study suggests that the CHADS2-score is currently a good option to stratify risk in syncope patients in the ED. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01548352.

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