Introduction
There are conflicting data on patient characteristics and outcomes of myocardial infarction
(MI) patients presenting with and without the symptom of chest pain.
Objectives
Compare the characteristics and survival of patients stratified by the symptom chest
pain.
Methods
This retrospective cohort study identified patients with an emergency department discharge
diagnosis of MI, who arrived by ambulance at a teaching hospital in Perth, Western
Australia, between January 2008 to October 2009. The cohort was linked to hospital
data and the state-based death register; clinical data were extracted by medical record
review. Patient characteristics were compared using logistic regression models and
survival analysis using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression models.
Results
Of 382 patients, 26% presented without chest pain. The odds of presenting without
chest pain were increased if aged 80+ (OR 7.54; 95%CI 2.81-20.3) and aged 70-79 years
(OR 4.33; 95% CI 1.50-12.5), and female (OR 1.67; 95%CI 0.99-2.82). The adjusted hazard
(median follow-up time 2.2 years) of presenting without chest pain was not significantly
associated with survival (HR 1.03; 95%CI 0.71-1.48).
Conclusion
Characteristics differed between patients with and without chest pain. However, the
symptom of chest pain was not associated with survival.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 26, 2015
Accepted:
January 24,
2015
Received in revised form:
December 1,
2014
Received:
July 1,
2014
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons (ANZSCTS) and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
