The ACS:ED study aims to understand how chest pain of a suspected cardiac origin is investigated in the Emergency Department. We will be examining different investigative strategies for evaluating this condition.

We will also be examining the prevalence of patients experiencing a heart attack (acute myocardial infarction) and the distribution of alternative diagnoses found in this group of patients presenting to the emergency department.

We will collect anonymised data such as your age and gender from your medical records, information about bloods results & the results of your heart-tracing, and what the doctor treating you thought was wrong with you.

We will also be collecting some data from the emergency department about how they investigate and manage these patients as a group.

This research will examine the different diagnostic strategies for investigating cardiac chest pain and how common different diagnoses are. This will impact how we look after these patients in the future.

Through this work we gain an understanding of how common these different conditions are. We will also find out information about the different strategies departments use to investigate these patients.

The final outcomes from the ACS:ED study will be communicated via presentations in scientific meetings and by peer reviewed publications.

We will aim to publish the results approximately 12 months after completion. We may discuss interim results at academic conferences prior to this.