Predictors of Clinically Significant Echocardiography Findings in Older Adults with Syncope: A Secondary Analysis
Marc A Probst, Thomas A Gibson, Robert E Weiss, Annick N Yagapen, Susan E Malveau, David H Adler, Aveh Bastani, Christopher W Baugh, Jeffrey M Caterino, Carol L Clark, Deborah B Diercks, Judd E Hollander, Bret A Nicks, Daniel K Nishijima, Manish N Shah, Kirk A Stiffler, Alan B Storrow, Scott T Wilber, Benjamin C Sun, Marc A Probst, Thomas A Gibson, Robert E Weiss, Annick N Yagapen, Susan E Malveau, David H Adler, Aveh Bastani, Christopher W Baugh, Jeffrey M Caterino, Carol L Clark, Deborah B Diercks, Judd E Hollander, Bret A Nicks, Daniel K Nishijima, Manish N Shah, Kirk A Stiffler, Alan B Storrow, Scott T Wilber, Benjamin C Sun
Abstract
Background: Syncope is a common reason for visiting the emergency department (ED) and is associated with significant healthcare resource utilization.
Objective: To develop a risk-stratification tool for clinically significant findings on echocardiography among older adults presenting to the ED with syncope or nearsyncope.
Design: Prospective, observational cohort study from April 2013 to September 2016.
Setting: Eleven EDs in the United States.
Patients: We enrolled adults (=60 years) who presented to the ED with syncope or near-syncope who underwent transthoracic echocardiography (TTE).
Measurements: The primary outcome was a clinically significant finding on TTE. Clinical, electrocardiogram, and laboratory variables were also collected. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify predictors of significant findings on echocardiography.
Results: A total of 3,686 patients were enrolled. Of these, 995 (27%) received echocardiography, and 215 (22%) had a significant finding on echocardiography. Regression analysis identified five predictors of significant finding: (1) history of congestive heart failure, (2) history of coronary artery disease, (3) abnormal electrocardiogram, (4) high-sensitivity troponin-T >14 pg/mL, and 5) N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide >125 pg/mL. These five variables make up the ROMEO (Risk Of Major Echocardiography findings in Older adults with syncope) criteria. The sensitivity of a ROMEO score of zero for excluding significant findings on echocardiography was 99.5% (95% CI: 97.4%-99.9%) with a specificity of 15.4% (95% CI: 13.0%-18.1%).
Conclusions: If validated, this risk-stratification tool could help clinicians determine which syncope patients are at very low risk of having clinically significant findings on echocardiography.
Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01802398.
© 2018 Society of Hospital Medicine.
Source: PubMed