A NIH-funded study led by a Kaiser Permanente team from Southern California indicates that some emergency room patients with chest pain can be safely discharged after just one negative troponin test (which measures troponin protein in the bloodstream, indicating heart damage from a cardiac event) rather than multiple tests. Dr. Adam Sharp, KPSOM Senior Advisor for Academic Affairs and a Kaiser Permanente emergency room physician, was a co-author of the study. The mortality rate was essentially the same within 30 days whether patients had one or multiple troponin tests, according to the findings.
From JAMA Network:
Some cardiac patients might be able to go home earlier
Study co-authored by KPSOM’s Dr. Adam Sharp shows that certain patients with chest pain may not need multiple troponin tests
