Clinical Use of Ischemic Markers and Echocardiography in the Emergency Department.

We searched the medical literature for articles containing markers of cardiac ischemia and echocardiography in the evaluation of patients presenting to the emergency department to determine their combined clinical use. Several published articles indicate two-dimensional echocardiography is a useful and cost-effective imaging technique for the evaluation of patients with chest pain in the emergency department. New studies are emerging that evaluate ischemic markers in combination with echocardiography to assess patients presenting to the emergency department with chest pain. We searched the MEDLINE Database for English-language articles published from December 1980 to August 1998 using the key words troponin, echocardiography, myocardial infarction, and emergency. These key words were crossed referenced to determine publications in this area. Pertinent trials and reviews were selected from the database. There were six articles evaluating biochemical markers of ischemia and echocardiography to assess patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes in the emergency department. Very few studies combined the information obtained from novel ischemic markers and echocardiogram analysis to help delineate potential cardiac etiologies of acute coronary syndromes. However, the limited studies available indicate that echocardiography is both sensitive and specific for detecting acute myocardial infarction. The presence of regional wall motion abnormalities increases the chance of in-hospital complications and likelihood of developing congestive heart failure after admission for unstable angina. The combined use of troponin T levels and echocardiographic imaging was a more powerful predictor of adverse events than were isolated results. Myocardial scarring with ventricular wall thinning or aneurysm may allow for rapid diagnosis of 'occult' coronary artery disease in a patient presenting with chest pain who does not have a previous history of a cardiovascular event. Echocardiography may also help identify other cardiovascular causes of chest pain, such as aortic dissection, aortic stenosis, cardiac tamponade, pericarditis, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The clinical use of combining ischemic markers of disease with echocardiographic imaging seems justified given their unique clinical advantages. Future clinical trials are needed to determine whether the combination of novel ischemic markers and echocardiography can provide for a more expedient and accurate diagnosis, resulting in improved patient care and a safe reduction in unnecessary hospitalization.