The Challenge of Triaging Chest Pain Patients: The Bernese University Hospital Experience
Table 2
Final diagnosis at the ED of 301 Patients†.
Musculoskeletal chest pain
82 (27%)
Acute coronary syndrome
56 (19%)
ST-elevation myocardial infarction
16 (5%)
Non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction
28 (9%)
Unstable angina pectoris
12 (4%)
Panic attack
38 (12%)
Cardiac arrhythmia
31 (10%)
Chronic lung disease
22 (7%)
Heart failure
21 (7%)
Lower respiratory tract infection
16 (5%)
Dyspepsia
15 (5%)
Pulmonary embolism
10 (3%)
Hypertensive crisis
7 (2%)
Upper respiratory tract infection
6 (2%)
Vasovagal Syncope
5 (2%)
Pericarditis
3 (1%)
Abdominal disease
3 (1%)
Pneumothorax
1 (0.5%)
Other ‡
5 (2%)
†More than one diagnosis per patient possible. ‡Other: Newly diagnosed cancer, haematoma in the pouch of an implantable cardioverter/defibrillator, instent stenosis of the subclavian artery, skin infection, cerebral haemorrhage.