Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35354618›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2022

Use and diagnostic value of liver enzyme tests in the emergency department and subsequent heart failure diagnosis: a retrospective cohort study.

Elena Vasti, Jeffrey A Tabas, Ari Hoffman, Mark Pletcher

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 53% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Elena VastiDepartment of Medicine, Stanford Health Care, Stockton, California, USA ecvasti@gmail.com.ORCID 0000-0002-6271-0257
Jeffrey A TabasDepartment of Hospital Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
Ari HoffmanUniversity of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
Mark PletcherDepartment of Internal Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
University of California, San Francisco · USStanford Health Care · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo determine (1) if liver function tests (LFTs) are ordered in the emergency department (ED) in patients with suspected acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) and (2) if the pattern of LFT abnormalities are meaningfully associated with a discharge diagnosis of ADHF among patients for whom these tests were ordered.

settingWe conducted a single-centre retrospective cohort study of patients with suspected ADHF who were seen in an academic tertiary ED using electronic medical records.

participantsAll ED patients admitted with suspected ADHF from January 2017 to May 2018, defined as any patient who had a brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) ordered. PRIMARY OUTCOME: The primary outcome was ADHF diagnosis at discharge.

resultsIn 5323 ED patients with suspected ADHF, 60% (n=3184) had LFTs ordered; 34.6% were abnormal. Men comprised 56% of patients with abnormal LFTs and the average age was 67 years. The odds of a final diagnosis of ADHF in the univariate analysis was 59% higher in patients with abnormal LFTs (OR=1.59, (95% CI 1.35 to 1.87) p<0.001) and remained significant though attenuated after adjusting for BNP, race and ethnicity and age (ORadj=1.31 (95% CI 1.09 to 1.57), p=0.004). Likelihood ratios for abnormal and normal LFTs were 1.2 (95% CI 1.21 to 1.28) and 0.76 (95% CI 0.68 to 0.84), respectively.

conclusionsA significant proportion (40%) of patients with suspected ADHF was missing LFTs in their ED workup. Among patients with LFTs, abnormal LFTs are associated with discharge diagnosis of ADHF after accounting for potential confounders, but their diagnostic value was relatively low. Future prospective studies are warranted to explore the role of LFTs in the workup of ADHF.

Indexed as

Heart FailureAgedEmergency Service, HospitalHumansLiverLiver Function TestsMaleRetrospective Studiesadult cardiologyheart failurequality in health care

Identifiers

PMID35354618
PMCPMC8968565
OpenAlexW4220766425

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.