Critical pathways in cardiology
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Currently, the wide variety of antithrombotic agents as adjunctive pharmacological therapy for non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes (ACS) in the setting of contemporary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) available for clinical use has made choosing the optimal drug therapy a complex and difficult task. In the stent era, bivalirudin, a semisynthetic direct thrombin inhibitor, has recently been shown to provide similar efficacy with less bleeding compared with unfractionated heparin plus platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors in ACS patients treated with PCI. ⋯ With current findings in contemporary PCI, there may be a steady increase in the utilization of bivalirudin. On the other hand, in the real world, there may be reinforcement in the sole use of unfractionated heparin confining glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors and other intravenous antithrombotics to bailout therapy for periprocedural PCI complications in ACS patients.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of cardiac risk scores in ED patients with potential acute coronary syndrome.
: The ability to risk stratify patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with potential acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is critical. Several risk scores for patients with definite ACS have been developed, but only the TIMI risk score has been shown to risk stratify ED patients with potential ACS. We compared the prognostic value of the GRACE and PURSUIT risk scores to the TIMI score in the broader ED patient population presenting with potential ACS. ⋯ : In this large cohort of ED patients, the TIMI risk score had the best discriminatory ability to predict 30-day cardiovascular events.
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The management of patients after cardiac arrest is a prominent example of complexity on many levels of decisions. We designed a pathway for the management of survivors of cardiac arrest, guiding such decisions as cardiac catheterization, induction of therapeutic hypothermia, placement of defibrillator, and ethical decision making for life support. ⋯ We used the power of survivors' stories to inspire and educate clinicians in the utility of our multidisciplinary pathway approach. This approach may serve as a model for patient-centered care in medicine.
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: Hospitals measure patient satisfaction through Press Ganey (PG) surveys. The impact of an emergency department observation unit (EDOU) on patient satisfaction has not been reported to date. We hypothesize that an EDOU has a positive impact on patient satisfaction results as measured by PG surveys. ⋯ : The introduction of an observation unit appears to be associated with a statistical improvement in patient satisfaction scores as reported by PG, in the setting of same facility, physician staffing, and nursing staffing.
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Recent evidence suggests that stress testing prior to emergency department (ED) release in low-risk chest pain patients identifies those who can be safely discharged home. When immediate stress testing is not feasible, rapid outpatient stress testing has been recommended. The objective of this study was to determine compliance rate and incidence of adverse cardiac events in patients presenting to the ED with low-risk chest pain referred for outpatient stress testing. ⋯ No significant differences in adverse cardiac events were documented in patients who did and did not comply with outpatient stress testing. Compliance with outpatient stress testing is poor in low-risk chest pain patients following ED release. Despite poor compliance, the documented incidence of adverse cardiac events in this low-risk cohort was lower than that reported in patients with negative provocative testing prior to ED release.