Background Multiple studies have evaluated the diagnostic and prognostic performance of conventional troponin (cTn) and high-sensitivity troponin (hs-cTn). We performed a collaborative meta-analysis ...comparing cTn and hs-cTn for diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and assessment of prognosis in patients with chest pain. Methods MEDLINE/PubMed, Cochrane CENTRAL, and EMBASE were searched for studies assessing both cTn and hs-cTn in patients with chest pain. Study authors were contacted and many provided previously unpublished data. Results From 17 included studies, there were 8,644 patients. Compared with baseline cTn, baseline hs-cTn had significantly greater sensitivity (0.884 vs 0.749, P < .001) and negative predictive value (NPV; 0.964 vs 0.935, P < .001), whereas specificity (0.816 vs 0.938, P < .001) and positive predictive value (0.558 vs 0.759, P < .001) were significantly reduced. Based on summary receiver operating characteristic curves, test performance for the diagnosis of AMI was not significantly different between baseline cTn and hs-cTn (0.90 95% CI 0.85-0.95 vs 0.92 95% CI 0.90-0.94). In a subanalysis of 6 studies that alternatively defined AMI based on hs-cTn, cTn had lower sensitivity (0.666, P < .001) and NPV (0.906, P < .001). Elevation of baseline hs-cTn, but negative baseline cTn, was associated with increased risk of death or nonfatal myocardial infarction during follow-up ( P < .001) compared with both negative. Conclusion High-sensitivity troponin has significantly greater early sensitivity and NPV for the diagnosis of AMI at the cost of specificity and positive predictive value, which may enable early rule in/out of AMI in patients with chest pain. Baseline hs-cTn elevation in the setting of negative cTn is also associated with increased nonfatal myocardial infarction or death during follow-up.
Acute Pulmonary Embolism: A Review Freund, Yonathan; Cohen-Aubart, Fleur; Bloom, Ben
JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association,
10/2022, Letnik:
328, Številka:
13
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Pulmonary embolism (PE) is characterized by occlusion of blood flow in a pulmonary artery, typically due to a thrombus that travels from a vein in a lower limb. The incidence of PE is approximately ...60 to 120 per 100 000 people per year. Approximately 60 000 to 100 000 patients die from PE each year in the US.
PE should be considered in patients presenting with acute chest pain, shortness of breath, or syncope. The diagnosis is determined by chest imaging. In patients with a systolic blood pressure of at least 90 mm Hg, the following 3 steps can be used to evaluate a patient with possible PE: assessment of the clinical probability of PE, D-dimer testing if indicated, and chest imaging if indicated. The clinical probability of PE can be assessed using a structured score or using clinical gestalt. In patients with a probability of PE that is less than 15%, the presence of 8 clinical characteristics (age <50 years, heart rate <100/min, an oxygen saturation level of > 94%, no recent surgery or trauma, no prior venous thromboembolism event, no hemoptysis, no unilateral leg swelling, and no estrogen use) identifies patients at very low risk of PE in whom no further testing is needed. In patients with low or intermediate clinical probability, a D-dimer level of less than 500 ng/mL is associated with a posttest probability of PE less than 1.85%. In these patients, PE can be excluded without chest imaging. A further refinement of D-dimer threshold is possible in patients aged 50 years and older, and in patients with a low likelihood of PE. Patients with a high probability of PE (ie, >40% probability) should undergo chest imaging, and D-dimer testing is not necessary. In patients with PE and a systolic blood pressure of 90 mm Hg or higher, compared with heparin combined with a vitamin K antagonist such as warfarin followed by warfarin alone, direct oral anticoagulants such as apixaban, edoxaban, rivaroxaban, or dabigatran, are noninferior for treating PE and have a 0.6% lower rate of bleeding. In patients with PE and systolic blood pressure lower than 90 mm Hg, systemic thrombolysis is recommended and is associated with an 1.6% absolute reduction of mortality (from 3.9% to 2.3%).
In the US, PE affects approximately 370 000 patients per year and may cause approximately 60 000 to 100 000 deaths per year. First-line therapy consists of direct oral anticoagulants such as apixaban, edoxaban, rivaroxaban, or dabigatran, with thrombolysis reserved for patients with systolic blood pressure lower than 90 mm Hg.
Concerns have been raised about the performance of highly sensitive cardiac troponin assays to accurately detect acute myocardial infarction (AMI), particularly in non–ST segment elevation (NSTEMI), ...in elderly patients, and in patients with renal failure. We evaluated whether increased age and low estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) alter diagnostic performance of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (HScTnT). In a prospective multicentric study, HScTnT levels were measured blindly at presentation in patients with acute chest pain. Three hundred and sixty-seven patients were enrolled, including 84 patients ≥70 years. Final diagnosis was AMI for 57 patients (16%) and NSTEMI for 43 patients (12%). NSTEMI was more frequent in elderly patients (p = 0.008). Sensitivity and specificity of HScTnT >14 ng/L at admission for AMI were 96% and 51% in patients ≥70 years versus 91% (NS) and 88% (p <0.0001) in younger patients; the same observations were done for the diagnosis of NSTEMI. Given an HScTnT >53.5 ng/L for the diagnosis of AMI and NSTEMI, respective sensitivities were 87% and 84% and respective specificities were 87% and 87% in elderly patients. Using a cutoff at 35.8 ng/L (for AMI) or 43.2 ng/L (for NSTEMI), sensitivities were 94% and 92%, and specificities were 86% and 88% in patients with low eGFR. Older age, but not low eGFR, was an independent predictive factor of an elevated HScTnT at admission (odds ratio 2.2 1.2–3.9, p = 0.007). In conclusion, adapted thresholds of HScTnT are required for an accurate diagnosis of AMI/NSTEMI in patients aged ≥70 and in those with low eGFR.
Abstract
Background
The aim of this trial-based economic evaluation was to assess the incremental costs and cost-effectiveness of the modified diagnostic strategy combining the YEARS rule and ...age-adjusted D-dimer threshold compared with the control (which used the age-adjusted D-dimer threshold only) for the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE) in the Emergency Department (ED).
Methods
Economic evaluation from a healthcare system perspective alongside a non-inferiority, crossover, and cluster-randomized trial conducted in 16 EDs in France and two in Spain with three months of follow-up. The primary endpoint was the additional cost of a patient without failure of the diagnostic strategy, defined as venous thromboembolism (VTE) diagnosis at 3months after exclusion of PE during the initial ED visit. Mean differences in 3-month failure and costs were estimated using separate generalized linear-regression mixed models, adjusted for strategy type, period, and the interaction between strategy and period as fixed effects and the hospital as a random effect. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was obtained by dividing the incremental costs by the incremental frequency of VTE.
Results
Of the 1,414 included patients, 1,217 (86%) were analyzed in the per-protocol analysis (648 in the intervention group and 623 in the control group). At three months, there were no statistically significant differences in total costs (€-46; 95% CI: €-93 to €0.2), and the failure rate was non inferior in the intervention group (-0.64%, one-sided 97.5% CI: -∞ to 0.21%, non-inferiority margin 1.5%) between groups. The point estimate of the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) indicating that each undetected VTE averted in the intervention group is associated with cost savings of €7,142 in comparison with the control group. There was a 93% probability that the intervention was dominant. Similar results were found in the as randomized population.
Conclusions
Given the observed cost decrease of borderline significance, and according to the 95% confidence ellipses, the intervention strategy has a potential to lead to cost savings as a result of a reduction in the use of chest imaging and of the number of undetected VTE averted. Policy-makers should investigate how these monetary benefits can be distributed across stakeholders.
Clinicaltrials
Trial registration number ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04032769; July 25, 2019.
Abstract
Background
Although simulation-based assessment (SBA) is being implemented in numerous medical education systems, it is still rarely used for undergraduate medical students in France. ...Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) will be integrated into the national medical curriculum in 2021. In 2016 and 2017, we created a mannequin SBA to validate medical students’ technical and psychometric skills during their emergency medicine and paediatric placements. The aim of our study was to determine medical students’ perceptions of SBA.
Methods
We followed the grounded theory framework to conduct a qualitative study. A total of 215 students participated in either a paediatric or an emergency medicine simulation-based course with a final assessment. Among the 215 participants, we randomly selected forty students to constitute the focus groups. In the end, 30 students were interviewed. Data were coded and analysed by two independent investigators within the activity theory framework.
Results
The analyses found four consensual themes. First, the students perceived that success in the SBA provided them with self-confidence and willingness to participate in their hospital placements (1). They considered SBA to have high face validity (2), and they reported changes in their practice after its implementation (3). Nevertheless, they found that SBA did not help with their final high-stakes assessments (4). They discussed three other themes without reaching consensus: stress, equity, and the structure of SBA. After an analysis with activity theory, we found that students’ perceptions of SBA underlined the contradictions between two systems of training: hospital and medical. We hypothesise that a specific role and place for SBA should be defined between these two activity systems.
Conclusion
The students perceived that SBA would increase self-confidence in their hospital placements and emphasise the general skills required in their future professional environment. However, they also reported that the assessment method might be biased and stressful. Our results concerning a preimplementation mannequin SBA and OSCE could provide valuable insight for new programme design and aid in improving existing programmes. Indeed, SBA seems to have a role and place between hospital placements and medical schools.
In the work-up strategy for pulmonary embolism (PE) in the ED, the recently introduced YEARS rule allows the raising of the D-dimer threshold to 1000 ng/ml in patients with no signs of deep venous ...thrombosis and no hemoptysis and in whom PE is not the most likely diagnosis. However, this decision rule has never been prospectively compared to the usual strategy. Furthermore, it is unclear if the YEARS rule can be used on top of the Pulmonary Embolism Rule-out Criteria (PERC). We aim to assess the non-inferiority of YEARS compared to current guidelines to rule out PE among PERC-positive ED patients with suspicion of PE.
The MODIGLIANI study is a multicenter, European, non-inferiority, cluster-randomized, two periods cross-over, controlled trial. Each center will be randomized for the sequence of two 4-month periods: intervention (MOdified Diagnostic Strategy: MODS) followed by control (usual care), or control followed by intervention with 1 month of "wash-out" between the two periods. In the control period, the threshold will be as usual (500 ng/ml for patients aged 50 years or younger and age × 10 for older patients). In the MODS period, the threshold of D-dimers to rule out PE will be raised to 1000 ng/ml if no item of the YEARS score is present or will remain unchanged otherwise. Patients will be included if they have a suspicion of PE, defined as chest pain, dyspnea, or syncope. Non-inclusion criteria comprise a high clinical probability of PE or PERC-negative patients with low clinical probability.
The study has received the following approvals: Comité de protection des personnes Ile de France XI (France) and Comité de Ética de la Investigación con medicamentos del Hospital Clínic de Barcelona (Spain). Results will be made available to all included participants and other researchers.
ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04032769. Registered on 24 July 2019.
Dyspnea is a frightening and debilitating experience. It attracts less attention than pain ('dyspnea invisibility'), possibly because of its non-universal nature. We tested the impact of self-induced ...experimental dyspnea on medical residents.
During a teaching session following the principles of experiential learning, emergency medicine residents were taught about dyspnea theoretically, observed experimental dyspnea in their teacher, and personally experienced self-induced dyspnea. The corresponding psychophysiological reactions were described. Immediate and 1-year evaluations were conducted to assess course satisfaction (overall 0-20 grade) and the effect on the understanding of what dyspnea represents for patients.
Overall, 55 emergency medicine residents participated in the study (26 men, median age 26 years). They were moderately satisfied with previous dyspnea teaching (6 5-7 on a 0-10 numerical rating scale NRS) and expressed a desire for an improvement in the teaching (8 7-9). Immediately after the course they reported improved understanding of patients' experience (7 6-8), which persisted at 1 year (8 7-9, 28 respondents). Overall course grade was 17/20 15-18, and there were significant correlations with experimental dyspnea ratings (intensity: r = 0.318 0.001-0.576, p = 0.043; unpleasantness: r = 0.492 0.208-0.699, p = 0.001). In multivariate analysis, the only factor independently associated with the overall course grade was 'experiential understanding' (the experimental dyspnea-related improvement in the understanding of dyspneic patients' experience). A separate similar experiment conducted in 50 respiratory medicine residents yielded identical results.
This study suggests that, in advanced medical residents, the personal discovery of dyspnea can have a positive impact on the understanding of what dyspnea represents for patients. This could help fight dyspnea invisibility.
Morbidity, mortality and social cost of sepsis are high. Previous studies have suggested that individual cytokines levels could be used as sepsis markers. Therefore, we assessed whether the multiplex ...technology could identify useful cytokine profiles in Emergency Department (ED) patients.
ED patients were included in a single tertiary-care center prospective study. Eligible patients were >18 years and met at least one of the following criteria: fever, suspected systemic infection, ≥ 2 systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria, hypotension or shock. Multiplex cytokine measurements were performed on serum samples collected at inclusion. Associations between cytokine levels and sepsis were assessed using univariate and multivariate logistic regressions, principal component analysis (PCA) and agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC).
Among the 126 patients (71 men, 55 women; median age: 54 years 19-96 years) included, 102 had SIRS (81%), 55 (44%) had severe sepsis and 10 (8%) had septic shock. Univariate analysis revealed weak associations between cytokine levels and sepsis. Multivariate analysis revealed independent association between sIL-2R (p = 0.01) and severe sepsis, as well as between sIL-2R (p = 0.04), IL-1β (p = 0.046), IL-8 (p = 0.02) and septic shock. However, neither PCA nor AHC distinguished profiles characteristic of sepsis.
Previous non-multiparametric studies might have reached inappropriate conclusions. Indeed, well-defined clinical conditions do not translate into particular cytokine profiles. Additional and larger trials are now required to validate the limited interest of expensive multiplex cytokine profiling for staging septic patients.
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