Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-9-2022

Comments

This article is the author’s final published version in Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open, Volume 3, Issue 2, April 2023, Article number e12695.

The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1002/emp2.12695. Copyright © Fermann et al.

Abstract

Background: Prior data has demonstrated increased mortality in hospitalized patients with acute heart failure (AHF) and troponin elevation. No data has specifically examined the prognostic significance of troponin elevation in patients with AHF discharged after emergency department (ED) management.

Objective: Evaluate the relationship between troponin elevation and outcomes in patients with AHF who are treated and released from the ED.

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of the Get with the Guidelines to Reduce Disparities in AHF Patients Discharged from the ED (GUIDED-HF) trial, a randomized, controlled trial of ED patients with AHF who were discharged. Patients with elevated conventional troponin not due to acute coronary syndrome (ACS) were included. Our primary outcome was a composite endpoint: time to 30-day cardiovascular death and/or heart failure-related events.

Results: Of the 491 subjects included in the GUIDED-HF trial, 418 had troponin measured during the ED evaluation and 66 (16%) had troponin values above the 99th percentile. Median age was 63 years (interquartile range, 54-70), 62% (n = 261) were male, 63% (n = 265) were Black, and 16% (n = 67) experienced our primary outcome. There were no differences in our primary outcome between those with and without troponin elevation (12/66, 18.1% vs 55/352, 15.6%; P = 0.60). This effect was maintained regardless of assignment to usual care or the intervention arm. In multivariable regression analysis, there was no association between our primary outcome and elevated troponin (hazard ratio, 1.00; 95% confidence interval, 0.49-2.01, P = 0.994).

Conclusion: If confirmed in a larger cohort, these findings may facilitate safe ED discharge for a group of patients with AHF without ACS when an elevated troponin is the primary reason for admission.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

PubMed ID

35434709

Language

English

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