NEW YORK, June 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Each year, more than 4 million patients present to U.S. emergency rooms citing shortness of breath or labored breathing as the principle reasons for their visit. The recently clearedTriage(R) Profiler Shortness of Breath Panel aids in the diagnosis of shortness of breath and breathing difficulty, two symptoms that rank among the top reasons for emergency department visits.
With a variety of potential causes leading to shortness of breath or breathing difficulty, the Triage Profiler Shortness of Breath Panel targets three of the most common causes of shortness of breath, congestive heart failure (CHF), pulmonary embolism (PE) and heart attack or silent heart attack. Challenged to evaluate symptoms common to different diseases or conditions, emergency physicians are in need of quick, accurate answers. The Triage Profiler Shortness of Breath Panel effectively gives physicians several answers that they can use to help determine the cause of breathing problems, with a single test, in 15 minutes.
A recent American Hospital Association study found that emergency department overcrowding is quickly becoming a national crisis: a majority of hospital emergency departments, 62 percent, perceive they are at or over operating capacity. For urban hospitals, more than 75 percent perceive they are at or over operating capacity. A test like this will help identify sooner the cause for shortness of breath, reducing the time to treatment and decongesting the emergency room.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Video version and more available at http://www.prnewswire.com/broadcast/12081/consumer.shtml
SOUNDBITES: -- Philip B. Adamson, MD FACC, Assoc. Prof. of Medicine, Cardiology, Assoc. Prof. of Physiology Dir., Congestive Heart Failure Treatment Program, University of Oklahoma -- Austin Hickman, Congestive Heart Failure and Shortness of Breath Patient -- W. Frank Peacock, MD, Dir. of Clinical Operations of the Emergency Dept., Dir. of Event Medicine The Cleveland Clinic VIDEO PROVIDED BY: Biosite Incorporated
Video: http://www.prnewswire.com/broadcast/12081/consumer.shtmlBiosite Incorporated
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