Diagnosis of Acute Coronary Syndromes in the Emergency Department: Evolution of Chest Pain Centers

INTRODUCTION Each year in the United States, it is estimated that nearly 8 million patients present to the emergency departments (ED) with complaints of chest discomfort or other symptoms consistent with potential acute manifestations of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Typically, over half of these patients are admitted for further diagnostic evaluation, yet fewer than 20% are ultimately diagnosed with ACS. Hospital beds and inpatient resources are scarce in the current environment. These admissions could potentially be avoided by evaluating low to moderate risk patients in a chest pain center (CPC) [1-4] in the emergency setting.