• Laura Stephensen, Jaimi Greenslade, Katrina Starmer, Greg Starmer, Richard Stone, Robert Bonnin, Anthony Brazzale, Tileah Drahm-Butler, Virginia Campbell, Tania Davis, Elizabeth Mowatt, Nathan Brown, Karlie Proctor, Sarah Ashover, Tanya Milburn, Louise McCormack, Nicholas Graves, Michelle Gatton, Ray Mahoney, William Parsonage, and Louise Cullen.
• Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Metro North Health, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
• Emerg Med Australas. 2023 Jun 1; 35 (3): 442449442-449.

ObjectivesTo describe the demographics, presentation characteristics, clinical features and cardiac outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients who present to a regional cardiac referral centre ED with suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS).MethodsThis was a single-centre observational study conducted at a regional referral hospital in Far North Queensland, Australia from November 2017 to September 2018 and January 2019 to December 2019. Study participants were 278 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people presenting to an ED and investigated for suspected ACS. The main outcome measure was the proportion of patients with ACS at index presentation and differences in characteristics between those with and without ACS.ResultsACS at presentation was diagnosed in 38.1% of patients (n = 106). The mean age of patients with ACS was 53.5 years (SD 9.5) compared with 48.7 years (SD 12.1) in those without ACS (P = 0.001). Patients with ACS were more likely to be male (63.2% vs 39.0%, P < 0.001), smokers (70.6% vs 52.3%, P = 0.002), have diabetes (56.6% vs 38.4%, P = 0.003) and have renal impairment (24.5% vs 10.5%, P = 0.002).ConclusionsAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients with suspected ACS have a high burden of traditional cardiac risk factors, regardless of whether they are eventually diagnosed with ACS. These patients may benefit from assessment for coronary artery disease regardless of age at presentation.© 2022 The Authors. Emergency Medicine Australasia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.

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