ACUTE CORONARY SYNDROMES Chest pain in the emergency department: role of cardiac imaging

Millions of patients with acute chest pain, or other symptoms suggestive of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), are evaluated daily in emergency depart-ments (EDs) around the world. These patients comprise a broad spectrum of cardiac risk. At one end of the spectrum are patients with abnormal ECG and thus definite ACS who require immediate invasive diagnostic procedures and possibly coronary intervention. At the other end of the spectrum are patients with atypical and non-cardiac chest discomfort and normal ECG who can be sent home safely. In between these two extremes are numerous patients with atypical presentation of ischaemic chest pain and normal or non-diagnostic ECG wh