Escala predictiva para el diagnóstico de síndrome coronario agudo en la atención telefónica en un centro coordinador de emergencias: escala SCARE / Predicting a diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome during telephone evaluation by an emergency dispatcher: the SCARE predictive scale

Objetivo. La correcta identificación en el primer contacto médico de los pacientes con un síndrome coronario agudo (SCA) es esencial. No existe ninguna escala predictiva para el diagnóstico de SCA en los centros de coordinación de emergencias (CCE) que facilite la toma de decisiones al equipo médico. El objetivo primario es construir y validar una escala de estas características. Método. Estudio prospectivo, observacional, unicéntrico, realizado durante 1 año (2016). Se incluyeron los pacientes que consultaron telefónicamente por dolor torácico no traumático en un CCE. Los pacientes incluidos se repartieron en las muestras de derivación y validación de forma aleatoria. La escala predictiva –escala SCARE– se construyó mediante regresión logística, la discriminación y calibración del modelo se realizó con el cálculo del área bajo la curva (ABC) de la característica operativa del receptor y el test de Hosmer-Lemeshow. Resultado. La muestra de derivación incluyó 902 pacientes y 7 de las variables recogidas se relacionaron con un diagnóstico final de SCA: sexo masculino, edad, tabaquismo, dolor torácico de características típicas, primer episodio de dolor torácico, diaforesis y la intuición del médico que realizó la entrevista telefónica. La utilización de la escala desarrollada en los 465 pacientes de la muestra de validación obtuvo un ABC de 0,81 (intervalo de confianza al 95% 0,76-0,87) y el test de Hosmer-Lemeshow fue de 5,18 (p = 0,74). Conclusión. La escala SCARE mostró una correcta discriminación y calibración. Es necesaria una validación externa multicéntrica antes de implementar su uso en los CCE

Background and objective. Correctly identifying patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) on first contact is essential, yet emergency dispatchers currently lack a risk scale that can help predict an ACS diagnosis. Our main aim was to develop and validate such a risk scale. Methods. Prospective, observational single-center study in 2016 (January 1 to December 31). We included patients who called our emergency dispatch center to report nontraumatic chest pain. Included patients were randomly assigned to a development or a validation sample. The predictive SCARE scale was built with logistic regression analysis. Discrimination and calibration were analyzed by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve; calibration was assessed with the Hosmer-Lemeshow test. Results. The development sample included 902 patients. The regression model identified 7 variables associated with a final diagnosis of ACS: male sex, age, smoking, typical pain characteristics, first episode of chest pain, diaphoresis, and physician intuition (the teledispatcher’s suspicion). When we applied the scale in the validation sample of 465 patients the area under the curve was 0.81 (95% CI, 0.76-0.87). The Hosmer-Lemeshow statistic was 5.18 (P=.74). Conclusions. The SCARE scale had good discrimination and calibration properties. The scale should be further validated in an external sample from a multicenter study before it is implemented by emergency dispatch centers

Predicting a diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome during telephone evaluation by an emergency dispatcher: the SCARE predictive scale. / Escala predictiva para el diagnóstico de síndrome coronario agudo en la atención telefónica en un centro coordinador de emergencias: escala SCARE.

OBJECTIVES: Correctly identifying patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) on first contact is essential, yet emergency dispatchers currently lack a risk scale that can help predict an ACS diagnosis. Our main aim was to develop and validate such a risk scale. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Prospective, observational single-center study in 2016 (January 1 to December 31). We included patients who called our emergency dispatch center to report nontraumatic chest pain. Included patients were randomly assigned to a development or a validation sample. The predictive SCARE scale was built with logistic regression analysis. Discrimination and calibration were analyzed by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve; calibration was assessed with the Hosmer-Lemeshow test. RESULTS: The development sample included 902 patients. The regression model identified 7 variables associated with a final diagnosis of ACS: male sex, age, smoking, typical pain characteristics, first episode of chest pain, diaphoresis, and physician intuition (the teledispatcher's suspicion). When we applied the scale in the validation sample of 465 patients the area under the curve was 0.81 (95% CI, 0.76-0.87). The Hosmer-Lemeshow statistic was 5.18 (P=.74). CONCLUSION: The SCARE scale had good discrimination and calibration properties. The scale should be further validated in an external sample from a multicenter study before it is implemented by emergency dispatch centers.

OBJETIVO: La correcta identificación en el primer contacto médico de los pacientes con un síndrome coronario agudo (SCA) es esencial. No existe ninguna escala predictiva para el diagnóstico de SCA en los centros de coordinación de emergencias (CCE) que facilite la toma de decisiones al equipo médico. El objetivo primario es construir y validar una escala de estas características. METODO: Estudio prospectivo, observacional, unicéntrico, realizado durante 1 año (2016). Se incluyeron los pacientes que consultaron telefónicamente por dolor torácico no traumático en un CCE. Los pacientes incluidos se repartieron en las muestra de derivación y validación de forma aleatoria. La escala predictiva ­escala SCARE­ se construyó mediante regresión logística, la discriminación y calibración del modelo se realizó con el cálculo del área bajo la curva (ABC) de la característica operativa del receptor y el test de Hosmer-Lemeshow. RESULTADOS: La muestra de derivación incluyó 902 pacientes y 7 de las variables recogidas se relacionaron con un diagnóstico final de SCA: sexo masculino, edad, tabaquismo, dolor torácico de características típicas, primer episodio de dolor torácico, diaforesis y la intuición del médico que realizó la entrevista telefónica. La utilización de la escala desarrollada en los 465 pacientes de la muestra de validación obtuvo un ABC de 0,81 (intervalo de confianza al 95% 0,76-0,87) y el test de Hosmer-Lemeshow fue de 5,18 (p = 0,74). CONCLUSIONES: La escala SCARE mostró una correcta discriminación y calibración. Es necesaria una validación externa multicéntrica antes de implementar su uso en los CCE.

Identifying Patients at Risk for Prehospital Sudden Cardiac Arrest at the Early Phase of Myocardial Infarction: The e-MUST Study (Evaluation en Médecine d'Urgence des Stratégies Thérapeutiques des infarctus du myocarde).

BACKGROUND: In-hospital mortality of ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) has decreased drastically. In contrast, prehospital mortality from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) remains high and difficult to reduce. Identification of the patients with STEMI at higher risk for prehospital SCA could facilitate rapid triage and intervention in the field. METHODS: Using a prospective, population-based study evaluating all patients with STEMI managed by emergency medical services in the greater Paris area (11.7 million inhabitants) between 2006 and 2010, we identified characteristics associated with an increased risk of prehospital SCA and used these variables to build an SCA prediction score, which we validated internally and externally. RESULTS: In the overall STEMI population (n=8112; median age, 60 years; 78% male), SCA occurred in 452 patients (5.6%). In multivariate analysis, younger age, absence of obesity, absence of diabetes mellitus, shortness of breath, and a short delay between pain onset and call to emergency medical services were the main predictors of SCA. A score built from these variables predicted SCA, with the risk increasing 2-fold in patients with a score between 10 and 19, 4-fold in those with a score between 20 and 29, and >18-fold in patients with a score ≥30 compared with those with scores <10. The SCA rate was 28.9% in patients with a score ≥30 compared with 1.6% in patients with a score ≤9 (P for trend <0.001). The area under the curve values were 0.7033 in the internal validation sample and 0.6031 in the external validation sample. Sensitivity and specificity varied between 96.9% and 10.5% for scores ≥10 and between 18.0% and 97.6% for scores ≥30, with scores between 20 and 29 achieving the best sensitivity and specificity (65.4% and 62.6%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: At the early phase of STEMI, the risk of prehospital SCA can be determined through a simple score of 5 routinely assessed predictors. This score might help optimize the dispatching and management of patients with STEMI by emergency medical services.

[General practice consultation in a hospital emergency department. History, evaluation and prospects]. / Consultation de médecine générale au sein d'un service d'accueil des urgences. Historique, bilan et perspectives.

INSTALLATION OF A GENERAL MEDICINE CONSULTATION: In 1995, in reaction to an increase of more than 35% over three years, related essentially to out-patient consultations, the installation of a general medicine consultation (GMC) near the emergency unit reception area (EUR) was envisaged. The project, developed over 5 years and based on an epidemiological study, was finally set-up in January 2000. The aims of the GMC are to supply information to the patients, help them in their administrative rights, and their subsequent follow-up by an external physician; the benefits expected by the EUR is the re-concentration on heavier and more urgent pathologies. THE FUNCTION OF THE GMC: Exclusively reserved for CCMU 1 patients (level 1 of the clinical classification of emergency unit patients), the GMC relies on general practice, with the presence of general practitioners installed in the SAU (emergency unit) sector, a double admission method (either via the emergency unit, or directly), a means of payment for the consultation and the absence of priority access to the technical network of the hospital. A social services worker is present. RECRUITMENT: After 18 months of activity, the GMC had managed more than 4500 patients and the method of referral via the SAU, almost exclusive at the beginning, has been reduced to a minority. The patients are generally young; socially close to the underprivileged population surrounding the SAU, but not in a situation of precariousness. The four principle motives for consultation are benign traumas, ENT infections, dermatological affections and pain. A DYNAMIC STRUCTURE: The rapid progress in the context of general medicine, and the observations of the physicians and non-physicians participating in this experience, has progressively modified the aim and mission of this GMC, which is gradually becoming a real structure of permanent care. Its originality is its close link between the town and the hospital, whilst permitting the various actors to remain free and independent. The traditional system of permanent care is no longer adapted to our society, and we must rapidly find solutions. The vocation of the GMC is not to become a universal model, but this new experience opens new horizons for the future.