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Risk Stratification: History, Physical, and EKG

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Short Stay Management of Chest Pain

Part of the book series: Contemporary Cardiology ((CONCARD))

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Abstract

Chest pain annually accounts for over 5% of more than 110 million emergency department (ED) visits nationwide (PHS, PHS 2004;1250). Of these patients, approximately one-third will be diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) (Storrow and Gibler, Ann Emerg Med 2000;35(5):449–61). ACS describes a continuum of conditions that ranges from unstable angina (UA) and non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) to ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), all due to varying degrees of coronary ischemia and cardiac cell death. The clinical presentation of a patient with UA can be insidious and presents challenges in diagnosis. Since each ACS component may potentially cause sudden cardiac death, it is prudent to use an individual’s history, physical examination, and electrocardiogram to help determine degrees of risk for ACS. This risk stratification ultimately guides further evaluation, testing, and treatment.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Emergency Medicine, Vanderbilt University, 703 Oxford House, Nashville, TN 37232, USA

    Alan B. Storrow

  2. Department of Emergency Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

    MD Ian McClure & MD Elizabeth Harbison

Authors
  1. Alan B. Storrow
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  2. MD Ian McClure
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  3. MD Elizabeth Harbison
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Correspondence to Alan B. Storrow .

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    © 2009 Humana Press, a part of Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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    Storrow, A.B., McClure, I., Harbison, E. (2009). Risk Stratification: History, Physical, and EKG. In: Cannon, C., Peacock, W. (eds) Short Stay Management of Chest Pain. Contemporary Cardiology. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-948-2_6

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-948-2_6

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    • Publisher Name: Humana Press

    • Print ISBN: 978-1-60327-947-5

    • Online ISBN: 978-1-60327-948-2

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