Reid, Christopher M.

Cardiorenal syndrome (CRS) is a multi‐organ disease, encompassing heart, kidney and vascular system dysfunction. CRS is a worldwide problem, with high morbidity, mortality, and inflicts a significant burden on the health care system. The pathophysiology is complex, involving interactions between neurohormones, inflammatory processes, oxidative stress and metabolic derangements. Therapies remain inadequate, mainly comprising symptomatic care with minimal prospect of full recovery. Challenges include limiting the contradictory effects of multi‐organ targeted drug prescriptions and continuous monitoring of volume overload. Novel strategies such as multi‐organ transplantation and innovative dialysis modalities have been considered but lack evidence in the CRS context. The adjunct use of pharmaceuticals targeting alternative pathways showing positive results in preclinical models also warrants further validation in the clinic. In recent years, studies have identified the involvement of gut dysbiosis, uraemic toxin accumulation, sphingolipid imbalance and other unconventional contributors, which has encouraged a shift in the paradigm of CRS therapy.

Abstract Objective Risk scores and accelerated diagnostic protocols can identify chest pain patients with low risk of major adverse cardiac event who could be discharged early from the ED , saving time and costs. We aimed to derive and validate a chest pain score and accelerated diagnostic protocol ( ADP ) that could safely increase the proportion of patients suitable for early discharge. Methods Logistic regression identified statistical predictors for major adverse cardiac events in a derivation cohort. Statistical coefficients were converted to whole numbers to create a score. Clinician feedback was used to improve the clinical plausibility and the usability of the final score (Emergency Department Assessment of Chest pain Score [ EDACS ]). EDACS was combined with electrocardiogram results and troponin results at 0 and 2 h to develop an ADP ( EDACS‐ADP ). The score and EDACS‐ADP were validated and tested for reproducibility in separate cohorts of patients. Results In the derivation ( n = 1974) and validation ( n = 608) cohorts, the EDACS‐ADP classified 42.2% (sensitivity 99.0%, specificity 49.9%) and 51.3% (sensitivity 100.0%, specificity 59.0%) as low risk of major adverse cardiac events, respectively. The intra‐class correlation coefficient for categorisation of patients as low risk was 0.87. Conclusion The EDACS‐ADP identified approximately half of the patients presenting to the ED with possible cardiac chest pain as having low risk of short‐term major adverse cardiac events, with high sensitivity. This is a significant improvement on similar, previously reported protocols. The EDACS‐ADP is reproducible and has the potential to make considerable cost reductions to health systems.