more sensitive test for heart attack may cut the diagnosis time to one hour, removing the need for prolonged monitoring in 3 out of 4 patients who present to the Emergency Department (ED) with chest pains, according to a new US study published this week. Writing about their work in a paper published online on 13 August in the Archives of Internal Medicine, the researchers suggest the test, which screens more sensitively for changes in a standard biochemical marker for myocardial infarction (heart attack), may help move patients more quickly through the ED, thus reducing congestion and saving time and money.
