ACC and AHA Issue Updated Chest Pain Data Standards

August 30, 2022—The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American Heart Association (AHA) announced an update to the 2021 AHA/ACC Guideline for the Evaluation and Diagnosis of Chest Pain, which underscored the need to reach a consensus for the definitions of chest pain.

The societies noted that the 2021 guideline, which was announced October 28, 2021, offered a new approach to evaluating the source and symptoms of chest pain that can help clinicians improve patient outcomes and reduce health care costs.

“2022 ACC/AHA Key Data Elements and Definitions for Chest Pain and Acute Myocardial Infarction” by H.V. (“Skip”) Anderson, MD, et al was published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. The document was developed in collaboration with the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, and it is endorsed by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

According to the press release, the 2022 document standardizes related data elements for consistent reporting on chest pain cases and establishes a new definition set focusing on serious cardiovascular causes of chest pain and acute myocardial infarction.

The document groups data elements into three broad categories: chest pain, myocardial injury, and myocardial infarction.

For chest pain symptoms, which have traditionally been labeled “typical” or “atypical,” the 2022 document defines their expansive nature by dividing chest pain syndromes into three categories: “cardiac,” “possible cardiac,” and “noncardiac” based on the 2021 chest pain guideline.

For myocardial infarction, the writing committee stated that uniform definitions are needed to ensure accurate reporting of cardiac events across all clinical trials and registries.

Data elements for procedure-related myocardial injury and procedure-related myocardial infarction are included in the document. The standardized definitions and data elements should be broadly applicable across patient care settings, electronic health records, quality and performance improvement initiatives, registries, and public reporting programs, noted the societies.