Cardiac markers in the low-risk chest pain patient

Study of risk factors affecting the survival rate of emergency victims with "chest pain" as chief complaint

Research Question:

What are the risk factors affecting the survival of emergency victims with chest pain as chief complaint.

Objectives:

1. To find out the relative risk of different risk factors. 2. To find out whether the association between survival rate and various sociodemographic variables are statistically significant or not.

Study Design:

Descriptive study.

Setting:

This study is based on the Pre-hospital care Records (PCR) of the Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI) from May 2007 to December 2007, in Andhra Pradesh.

Participants:

2020 emergency victims, with chest pain as the chief complaint, reported to EMRI from May to December 2007.

Study Variables:

Demographic characteristics of the victims, time and day of the incident, response time in handling the emergency, and so on.

Statistical Analysis:

Proportions, Chi-Square test, and Odds Ratio.

Results:

Of all the risk factors studied, gender (Male), age (65 +), and incident location (residence), proved to be the risk factors for the non-survival of the victims of medical emergencies, with chest pain as the chief complaint. It was also observed that there was a statistically significant association (P < 0.05) between age, gender, area (urban and rural), and occupation with the survival rate. The response time was significantly associated with the survival rate, only for critical cases. Survival rate increases to 33% with response time less than 15 minutes from less than 5% with the response time more than 15 minutes.

Inflammatory biomarkers and coronary heart disease: from bench to bedside and back

Inflammation plays a pivotal role in all stages of atherosclerosis from endothelial dysfunction and plaque formation to plaque destabilization and disruption. Inflammatory biomarkers, originally studied to better understand the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis, have generated increasing interest among clinicians, because of their utility in the challenging problems of diagnosis and risk assessment of patients with suspected or proved coronary heart disease. Moreover, in fascinating perspective, they could be used as therapeutic target, counteracting initiation, progression, and development of complications of atherosclerosis. In this review, we will provide an overview of the more promising inflammatory biomarkers, focusing on their utility and limitations in the clinical setting.