Noninvasive Cardiac Testing and Cardiovascular Outcomes for Low-Risk Chest Pain in the Emergency Department: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: With the widespread adoption of high-sensitivity troponin testing, recent guidelines no longer recommend urgent noninvasive cardiac testing for suspected cardiac disease in low-risk emergency department (ED) patients. We conducted a meta-analysis to determine whether urgent noninvasive testing, compared to no testing, is associated with improved cardiovascular outcomes in low-risk patients. Methods: We searched databases for studies of adults evaluated in the ED for low-risk acute chest pain based on clinical criteria, diagnostic testing, or risk scores. Outcomes were all-cause death or myocardial infarction (MI), and revascularization alone, at 90 days and 1 year. Results: A total of 1.5 million patients were included from 17 observational and 2 randomized studies. The overall rate of death or MI was 0.3% at 90 days, and 0.4% at 1 year. The odds of death or MI were not significantly different at 90 days (9 studies with 144,447 participants; odds ratio [OR] = 0.92 [0.48-1.76]) or 1 year (13 studies with 146,563 participants; OR = 0.92 [0.63-1.35]) between the tested and nontested groups. The odds of revascularization were significantly higher in tested groups at 90 days (12 studies with 513,862 participants; OR = 2.21 [1.17-4.17]) and 1 year (16 studies with 1,441,693 participants; OR = 2.61 [1.95-3.48]). Conclusions: Noninvasive testing for low-risk chest pain in the ED was not associated with lower odds of death or MI, but it was associated with more than twice the odds of revascularization. This finding supports current guidelines recommending against universal noninvasive testing for ED patients with low-risk chest pain.