Non-traumatic chest pain in young adults: a medical audit.
Four hundred consecutive young patients who attended an accident and emergency department with non-traumatic chest pain as their primary complaint were reviewed. They represented 0.7% of total new attendances. Most were self-referrals, but ambulance transport was requested for over 25%. The majority of investigations (mainly chest radiography and electrocardiography) performed in this group of patients were normal; however, almost one in six investigations was judged to be abnormal. Although this group of patients is at low risk for serious cardiorespiratory disease, a small but significant number of underlying (mainly non-cardiac) disorders was found and 22.5% (90) required in-patient admission. In contrast, almost one-fifth of patients received no specific diagnosis, while almost 40% were deemed to require no follow-up.
Luke
L C
LC
Department of Accident and Emergency Medicine and Surgery, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, U.K.
Cusack
S
S
Smith
H
H
Robertson
C E
CE
Little
K
K
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002637:Chest Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011859:Radiography; D012606:Scotland; D014187:Transportation of Patients; D014600:Utilization Review