Giornale italiano di cardiologia : organo ufficiale della Federazione italiana di cardiologia : organo ufficiale della Società italiana di chirurgia cardiaca
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G Ital Cardiol (Rome) · Mar 2006
Review[Management of acute chest pain in the emergency department].
Acute chest pain is one of the most common symptoms in emergency departments. Immediate assessment is mandatory on arrival in order to ensure the appropriate care. Diagnostic work-up should be based on conventional tools, i.e. clinical presentation, physical examination, electrocardiogram, as well as on modern information, i.e. biochemical markers of myocardial damage or provocative tests. ⋯ An agreement on specific protocols is often difficult to achieve between different specialties. Also, no official guidelines on low-risk chest pain patients or patients with non-cardiac chest pain are available. Finally, the minimal data set of diagnostic tools that should be applied in case of acute chest pain in any emergency setting is still lacking.