JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Myocardial perfusion imaging for evaluation and triage of patients with suspected acute cardiac ischemia: a randomized controlled trial.
Observational studies of acute myocardial perfusion imaging in emergency department (ED) patients with chest pain have suggested high sensitivity and negative predictive value for acute cardiac ischemia, but use of this method has not been prospectively tested. ⋯ Sestamibi perfusion imaging improves ED triage decision making for patients with symptoms suggestive of acute cardiac ischemia without obvious abnormalities on initial ECG. In this study, unnecessary hospitalizations were reduced among patients without acute ischemia, without reducing appropriate admission for patients with acute ischemia.