[Clinical pathway "Acute Coronary Syndrome"]

The clinical pathway "acute coronary syndrome" of the university hospital Marburg describes the guideline-conform and consented management of patients with ST-segment elevation infarct (STEMI), non-ST-segment elevation infarct (NSTEMI) and Troponin negative unstable angina. A 12-lead ECG recording is made and read in all patients within 10 minutes. All patients with STEMI undergo immediate revascularisation using primary percutanuous catheter intervention (PCI) after administration of basic medical therapy. Primary PCI is also used in all patients with NSTEMI, persistent chest pain, rhythm or hemodynamic instability. Patients with unstable angina, who became free of symptoms after application of basic medication, but who have additional risk factors undergo cardiac catheterisation within 48 hours. Acute myocardial infarction can be ruled out in patients with twofold negative cardiac troponin levels during 6-12 hours. In the absence of further symptoms, these patiens undergo differential diagnostic evaluation of cardiac and extracardiac causes of chest pain. The introduction of this clinical pathway 2 years ago, which was consented before by the hospital board and the clinical directors, has lead to a remarkable improvement in the clinical decision-making at the emergency room of the hospital and reduced the door to intervention time considerably.