Point-of-care troponin tests to rule out acute myocardial infarction in the prehospital environment: A protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Albaqami, Bader; Dinnes, Jacqueline; Moore, Theresa HM; Kirby, Kim; Carley, Simon D; Aloufi, Mohammad; Alqurashi, Naif; Alghamdi, Abdulrhman; Alsuwais, Sara; Dawson, Sarah; Body, Richard

Abstract

Background Chest pain is a major cause of emergency ambulance calls, often linked to acute myocardial infarction (AMI), a critical condition requiring immediate hospitalisation. Current diagnostic methods, such as history taking and ECG, have limitations, especially for non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction. High-sensitivity cardiac troponin (cTn) assays are more diagnostically sensitive, but the downside is that it needs hospital-based testing, which can delay diagnosis and the necessary treatment protocol. Point-of-care cTn testing, on the other hand, is much faster and done nearer to the patient; hence, it may fundamentally change the prehospital care pathway in terms of diagnostic accuracy, clinical utility and related safety.

Objective To present a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis that will assess the diagnostic accuracy, clinical utility and safety of point of care (POC) troponin tests, with or without clinical decision aids, for ruling out AMI in adults presenting with cardiac chest pain to emergency ambulance services in prehospital settings.

Methods This protocol follows BMJ guidelines and adheres to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols 2015 reporting standards. It is registered with PROSPERO (ID: CRD42024533117). A comprehensive search strategy will identify relevant studies in MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL, focusing on literature from 2000 onwards. Eligibility criteria include adults with chest pain suspected of AMI, excluding those with ST-elevation myocardial infarction. The primary target is type 1 AMI, with secondary outcomes including major adverse cardiac events at 30 days. Risk of bias assessment will be performed using tools such as Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies version 2, Risk of Bias 2, and Risk of Bias in Non-randomised Studies of Interventions, while the quality of the economic evaluations will be appraised using the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) checklist. Data items extracted will include patient demographics, test characteristics and outcomes. Where possible, meta-analyses will be conducted by fitting hierarchical models for diagnostic accuracy and random effects models for clinical and cost-effectiveness estimates. Subgroup analyses are proposed to quantify the effect of variables such as gender, ethnicity and type of troponin assay on the estimated parameters.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 11, 2025
• Online Publication Date: May 2, 2025
• Publication Date: May 2, 2025
• Deposit Date: Jun 12, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 13, 2025
• Journal: BMJ Open
• Electronic ISSN: 2044-6055
• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 5
• Article Number: e094390
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-094390
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/14560662