Patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS) make up roughly 10% of Emergency Department (ED) presentations. Approximately 80-90% of these patients are eventually diagnosed with a non-cardiac cause following assessment. Standard clinical diagnostic methods are problematic, with lengthy assessment periods of this cohort contributing to overcrowding and delayed care in the emergency department.
Within the last decade, troponin assays have become available for use at the patients’ bedside in point-of-care (POC) devices. These devices allow shorter real-time results to be available to clinicians in comparison to lab-based assays. However, POC devices have been slow to be adopted in routine clinical care.
This webinar will address the current evidence for POC-based troponin testing, analyze the reliability of existing POC assays, discuss the potential impact on outcomes and safety, illustrate effects on length of stay and patient flow in the ED, and examine the changes needed to maximize the potential benefits of POC troponin testing.
Presenter
A/Prof Louise Cullen MBBS(Hon) FACEM
Senior Staff Specialist, Department of Emergency Medicine
A/Prof, Queensland University of Technology
Snr Lecturer, University of Queensland, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital
Brisbane, Queensland, AUSTRALIA