Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Thunderclap headache syndrome presenting to the emergency department: an international multicentre observational cohort study.
Most headache presentations to emergency departments (ED) have benign causes; however, approximately 10% will have serious pathology. International guidelines recommend that patients describing the onset of headache as 'thunderclap' undergo neuroimaging and further investigation. The association of this feature with serious headache cause is unclear. The objective of this study was to determine if patients presenting with thunderclap headache are significantly more likely to have serious underlying pathology than patients with more gradual onset and to determine compliance with guidelines for investigation. ⋯ Thunderclap headache presenting to the ED appears be associated with higher risk for serious intracranial pathology, including SAH, although most patients with this type of headache had a benign cause. Neuroimaging rates did not align with international guidelines, suggesting potential need for further work on standardisation.
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Multicenter Study
Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 is not predictive of cardiac events in patients with non-low-risk chest pain.
Prior studies suggest monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) may be useful for risk stratifying ED patients with chest pain. We hypothesise that MCP-1 will be predictive of 90-day major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) in non-low-risk patients. ⋯ MCP-1 is not predictive of 90-day MACE in patients with non-low-risk chest pain.