Building a better mousetrap for chest pain

Abstract

This commentary discusses two articles in the current issue of Academic Emergency Medicine that report on investigations of copeptin, a novel biomarker used in conjunction with troponin and an accelerated diagnostic protocol (ADP) in the evaluation of chest pain patients. The authors discuss the challenges and future directions of the evaluation and identification of low-risk chest pain patients who are safe for discharge without additional diagnostic testing. © 2012 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.