Henry Ford Heart Score Randomized Trial: Rapid Discharge of Patients Evaluated for Possible Myocardial Infarction

Henry Ford Health

Status: Completed

Conditions: Coronary Artery Disease; Heart Attack; Chest Pain

Treatments: Other: Deferral of admission for stress test

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03058120

IRB 8558

Details and patient eligibility

About

This was a prospective randomized, controlled trial designed to quantify the reduction in cost and length of stay of early discharge of emergency department patients evaluated for acute myocardial infarction, who are deemed to be low risk based on a modified HEART score (a score that incorporates troponin biomarker, ecg, patient characteristics, and physician clinical judgment).

Full description

This was a prospective randomized, controlled trial conducted from February 2014 to May 2015 designed to quantify the reduction in cost and length of stay of early discharge of emergency department patients evaluated for acute myocardial infarction, in those deemed to be low risk based on a modified HEART score. Our study enrolled only those deemed low risk, as these are the patients we believe best served by utilization of the HEART score decision aid.

A total of 105 patients evaluated for AMI in the ED with a modified HEART score ≤ 3 (which includes cardiac troponin I < 0.04 ng/ml at 0 and 3 hours) were randomized to immediate discharge (n = 53) vs management in an observation unit with stress testing (n = 52).

The primary endpoints were 30-day total cost and length of stay. Secondary endpoints were all-cause death, nonfatal AMI, rehospitalization for evaluation of possible AMI, and coronary revascularization at 30 days.

That such an early discharge strategy would decrease cost and length of stay is intuitively expected; our goal was to quantify such a reduction.

Enrollment: 105 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 21+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• patients 21 years or older
• patients who presented to the Emergency Department with symptoms suspicious for AMI.
• patients for whom the ED physician's intention to send the patient to the observation unit for stress testing

Exclusion criteria

• Cardiac Troponin I > 0.04 ng/mL at 0 or 3 hours
• clinical presentation warranting admission
• inability or unwillingness to consent
• trauma as etiology of presenting symptoms.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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105 participants in 2 patient groups

Stress testing

No Intervention group

Description:

Patient with chest pain, low risk by modified HEART score, undergoes whatever admission and stress testing plan is determined by ED and inheriting decision unit physicians.

Early discharge

Active Comparator group

Description:

Patient with chest pain, low risk by modified HEART score, is discharged from the emergency room without admission nor stress testing.

Treatment:

Other: Deferral of admission for stress test