Prehospital Triage of Patients With Suspected Non-ST-segment Elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome: the TRIAGE-ACS Study

With the Emergency Medical Services (EMS), no prehospital risk stratification and triage is performed for patients suspected of having an Non-ST-segment elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome (NSTE-ACS). While the latest ESC Guidelines recommend an early invasive strategy within 24 hours for all high risk NSTE-ACS patients and same-day transfer to a PCI (Percutaneous Coronary Intervention) center. With the potential emerging logistical problem surrounding this, prehospital risk stratification and triage can have great benefits in this population as well, especially in patients with a high risk of having an NSTE-ACS. The recently validated PreHEART score makes it possible to stratify patients in a low-risk and high-risk group for having a NSTE-ACS and gives the EMS the opportunity to make triage decisions in the prehospital setting. Patients with a high risk for having an NSTE-ACS are transferred directly to an PCI-center for further diagnostic work-up. Patients with a low risk for having NSTE-ACS and transferred to the ED of the nearest hospital without PCI facilities (non-PCI center) for further diagnostic work-up, resulting in an optimization of the regional care utilization.

This is the first study to focus on patients who are at a high risk of having an NSTE-ACS and to assess if whether prehospital triage using the PreHEART score is able to significantly reduce time to final invasive diagnostics and revascularization in patients in need of coronary revascularization.