Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. Among them, coronary artery disease-especially in its acute form, known as acute coronary syndrome (ACS)-is the most frequent cause of cardiovascular death. There are two main types of ACS: ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and non-ST-segment elevation ACS (NSTE-ACS). While the occurrence of serious heart rhythm and conduction disturbances is well established in STEMI, these complications are believed to be much less frequent in NSTE-ACS. However, their actual frequency in this population remains unclear due to limited studies, especially in emergency settings.
The main purpose of this study is to estimate the frequency of serious rhythm and conduction disorders in patients presenting with NSTE-ACS in emergency departments. The hypothesis is that these events are rare in this population and may not justify routine continuous cardiac monitoring for all such patients, as currently recommended.
Secondary objectives include identifying risk factors for these complications, estimating their frequency during hospitalization, assessing the frequency of minor rhythm and conduction disorders, evaluating care times and patient flow in emergency departments, and assessing patient outcomes up to 30 days-including hospitalizations, length of stay, discharge disposition, all-cause mortality, and the occurrence of five major adverse cardiovascular events (5-point MACE).