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NCT Number: NCT02813499

Interest of CARE Rule to Exclude the Hypothesis of an Acute Coronary Syndrome Without Bioassay - ICARE

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a major health problem and its diagnosis remains a challenge for the emergency physician. The management of a suspected ACS is well codified, based on troponin assays, renewed if necessary.

Conversely, the criteria leading to initiate a diagnostic procedure in chest pain to the Emergency department are unclear. The fear is, firstly, to miss a potentially life treating diagnosis and, secondly, exposing many patients to unnecessary examinations. The advent of highly sensitive troponin assays also increases the risk of over-investigation by a larger number of elevations of the biomarker in non-coronary circumstances leading to a prolongation of hospitalization and, possibly, unnecessary treatments and invasive investigations.

CARE rule could help to streamline this first step. It is established by assigning a value from 0 to 2 to the items: Characteristic of pain, Age, Risk factors and ECG. The search for an ACS is not justified if the sum of points is ≤1 (negative rule) and, conversely, a troponin should be performed if the sum is > 1 (positive rule).

Indeed, CARE rule corresponds to the first 4 items of the HEART score (the latter standing for troponin at admission) whose reliability has been demonstrated, a ≤3 income excluding ACS with a risk of false negatives <2%. A negative CARE rule always corresponds to a HEART score ≤3.

Our study aims to confirm the interest of CARE rule to streamline the search for an ACS in chest pain as an observational European multicenter prospective study.

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Key information

Conditions

Chest Pain Acute Coronary Syndrome Cardiovascular Diseases Heart Diseases Myocardial Ischemia Neurologic Manifestations Pain Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Signs and Symptoms Vascular Diseases

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium

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About this study

CARE rule was evaluated in a prospective study of routine care on 641 patients among which 9.8% had a Major Adverse Cardiac Event (MACE). 200 patients (31%) had a negative rule and none showed MACE during the 45-day follow-up (0% [0-1.9]). Among these 200 patients, 119 had a standard troponin assay, a single dosage was increased.

The main objective is to demonstrate the reliability of CARE rule to exclude ACS in chest pain, using an observational Franco-Belgian multicenter study in routine care.

If the reliability of CARE rule is confirmed in Emergency departments, it could be evaluated to be used in other circumstances such as in pre-hospital or in private practice for the general practitioner or cardiologist.

In summary, the ICARE study is intended to allow a rationalization of the management of patients with chest pain, limiting the use of unnecessary investigations while ensuring the safety of care.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • patient admitted to the emergency department or chest pain
  • patient admitted in a non-scheduled manner
  • non-traumatic chest pain
  • no formal diagnosis after frontline examinations

Exclusion criteria

  • patient with an ECG showing a coronary syndrome ST +
  • patient for which a 6-weeks follow-up would be impossible
  • patient refusing to participate

Treatment and study plan

CARE Rule

Other

Evaluation of the clinical suspicion of myocardial infarction, calculation of CARE rule and troponin assay performed by the practitioner.

Primary outcomes

  1. The failure rate of the diagnostic strategy will be evaluated by the rate of MACE recorded in the course of the phone call follow-up at 45 days of patient's inclusion in the group of patients with negative CARE rule.

    Time frame: Day 45

    This rate is a composite criterion including myocardial infarction, percutaneaous coronary intervention, coronary artery bypass grafting or sudden death for which a cardiac cause cannot be excluded. The procedure will be considered acceptable if the rate of false negatives among patients with negative CARE rule is less than 1% with an upper limit of the 95% confidence interval lower than 3%.

Secondary outcomes

  1. The failure rate of the HEART score only considering only one dosage of troponin at admission assessed by the proportion of MACE at 45 days in the HEART group ≤3

    Time frame: Day 45

  2. Number of bioassay which could be saved, measured by the difference between the number of bioassays actually made least the number bioassays requested by the strategy

    Time frame: Day 45

  3. Difference between average times of consultation according to the need for a bioassay based on CARE rule

    Time frame: Day 45

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University Hospital, Angers

Other Gov

Registry information

Official study title

Intérêt de la règle CARE Pour Exclure l'hypothèse d'un Syndrome Coronarien Aigu Sans Dosage Biologique - ICARE

Acronym: ICARE

Important dates

Study start
2016
Primary completion
2018
Study completion
2018
First posted
Jun 27, 2016
Registry last updated
Apr 6, 2018

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

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This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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