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Echocardiographic Assessment Using Subxiphoid-Only Examination for Hypotensive Patients
Published on: April 18, 2025
Stress echo in chest pain unit: the SPEED trial
Gigliola Bedetti1, Emilio M Pasanisi, Giancarlo Tintori
1Cardiology Dept., Civile Hospital, Imola, Italy.
International Journal of Cardiology
|July 12, 2005
Summary
Pharmacological stress echocardiography safely and effectively identifies patients with acute chest pain in the ER. This diagnostic tool accurately predicts cardiac events, aiding early patient stratification and management.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Emergency Medicine
- Diagnostic Imaging
Background:
- Emergency room evaluation of acute chest pain with non-diagnostic ECG is challenging.
- Accurate risk stratification is crucial for these patients.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the safety and prognostic value of pharmacological stress echocardiography.
- To assess its utility in the emergency room chest pain unit.
Main Methods:
- 552 patients with acute chest pain and normal resting ventricular function underwent dipyridamole or dobutamine stress echo.
- Six echo labs with quality control participated.
- 13-month follow-up was obtained.
Main Results:
- No significant adverse events occurred during stress echocardiography.
- Negative predictive value for all events was 98.8%; for hard events, 99.6%.
- Patients with positive stress echo had a significantly higher event rate (78% vs. 1.2%).
Conclusions:
- Stress echocardiography is a safe and feasible tool for ER patients.
- It effectively stratifies risk in acute chest pain cases.
- It aids in early diagnosis and management decisions.
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