ECG (Electrocardiography) and cardiac damage markers in NICE (UK National Institute for Clinical Excellence) guidelines:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Electrocardiography and/or blood testing are set to become a requirement for deciding on the use of a combination of drugs to treat non-ST-segment-elevation acute coronary syndrome in people at moderate-to-high risk of myocardial infarction (MI) or death in the UK. The final draft of forthcoming guidelines by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) on the use of clopidogrel in combination with aspirin requires that MI care policy be based on tests, such as ECG, to assess ischaemia and/or the presence of raised levels of cardiac cell damage markers, such as troponin. There were over 112,000 recorded cases of MI among over 153,000 cases of angina (including over 88,000 of unstable angina) in England and Wales in 2002-03. The exact incidence of non-ST-segment-elevation acute coronary syndrome is, however, difficult to estimate, says NICE. The 15-day final appeal period for this appraisal ends on May 14.