European Society of Cardiology 0/1-hour algorithm (high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T) performance across distinct age groups

Background To determine if the European Society of Cardiology 0/1-hour (ESC 0/1-h) algorithm with high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) meets the >= 99% negative predictive value (NPV) safety threshold for 30-day cardiac death or myocardial infarction (MI) in older, middle-aged and young subgroups. Methods We conducted a subgroup analysis of adult emergency department patients with chest pain prospectively enrolled from eight US sites (January 2017 to September 2018). Patients were stratified into rule-out, observation and rule-in zones using the hs-cTnT ESC 0/1-h algorithm and classified as older (>= 65 years), middle aged (46-64 years) or young (21-45 years). Patients had 0-hour and 1-hour hs-cTnT measures (Roche Diagnostics) and a History, ECG, Age, Risk factor and Troponin (HEART) score. Fisher's exact tests compared rule-out and 30-day cardiac death or MI rates between ages. NPVs with 95% CIs were calculated for the ESC 0/1-h algorithm with and without the HEART score. Results Of 1430 participants, 26.9% (385/1430) were older, 57.4% (821/1430) middle aged and 15.7% (224/1430) young. Cardiac death or MI at 30 days occurred in 12.8% (183/1430). ESC 0/1-h algorithm ruled out 35.6% (137/385) of older, 62.1% (510/821) of middle-aged and 79.9% of (179/224) young patients (p<0.001). NPV for 30-day cardiac death or MI was 97.1% (95% CI 92.7% to 99.2%) among older patients, 98.4% (95% CI 96.9% to 99.3%) in middle-aged patients and 99.4% (95% CI 96.9% to 100%) among young patients. Adding a HEART score increased NPV to 100% (95% CI 87.7% to 100%) for older, 99.2% (95% CI 97.2% to 99.9%) for middle-aged and 99.4% (95% CI 96.6% to 100%) for young patients. Conclusions In older and middle-aged adults, the hs-cTnT ESC 0/1-h algorithm was unable to reach a 99% NPV for 30-day cardiac death or MI unless combined with a HEART score.