Using the HEART score in patients with chest pain in the emergency department of Kosovo as an important triage criterion for treatment and hospitalization

Abstract

Background: Despite being a frequent presenting complaint in emergency rooms, chest pain’s clinical therapy varies greatly. Our objectives were to identify the traits of people who complain of chest pain and to analyze the value of the HEART (history, electrocardiogram, age, risk factors, and initial troponin) score index for risk assessment. Depending on how bad it is, each abnormality can be given a score of zero, one, or two points. These five factors add up to the HEART score. Methods: Clinical information on 269 individuals with chest pain admitted to the Emergency Room was reviewed: January 2022 until January 2023. A prospective registry was used to record information about patients with nontraumatic chest discomfort who were admitted from the emergency department. Results: Over a 12-month period, patients admitted in emergency department were classified through HEART score. From them 101 patients (37%) belong to the age group older than or equal to 65 years, 134 patients (50%) belong to the age group 45–65 years, and 34 patients (13%) belong to the age group younger than or equal to 45 years. Strong positive correlation between troponin level (HEART score) and hospitalization, also p value 0.043 is typically considered to be statistically significant. According to HEART score classification 43 cases (60%) from the group with 7–10 (high risk) were hospitalized. According to anamnesis (history) on cardiovascular disease in relation to hospitalization, then 48 cases hospitalized (67%) belong to the classification 1-moderately suspicious and 21 cases hospitalized (29%) belong to the classification 2-highly suspicious classification. Conclusion: The HEART score can be used for triage since it is a simple, rapid, and accurate predictor of outcome in patients with chest pain. A medium risk group included about half of the patients who reported chest pain to an emergency room. Hospitalization and troponin level had a strong positive link (HEART score), with a p value of 0.043.