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Charlie S. Wang, MD; J. Mark FitzGerald, MB, DM; Michael Schulzer, MD, PhD; Edwin Mak; Najib T. Ayas, MD, MPH

JAMA. 2005;294:1944-1956.

Context  Dyspnea is a common complaint in the emergency department where physicians must accurately make a rapid diagnosis.

Objective  To assess the usefulness of history, symptoms, and signs along with routine diagnostic studies (chest radiograph, electrocardiogram, and serum B-type natriuretic peptide [BNP]) that differentiate heart failure from other causes of dyspnea in the emergency department.

Data Sources  We searched MEDLINE (1966-July 2005) and the reference lists from retrieved articles, previous reviews, and physical examination textbooks.

Study Selection  We retained 22 studies of various findings for diagnosing heart failure in adult patients presenting with dyspnea to the emergency department.

Data Extraction  Two authors independently abstracted data (sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratios [LRs]) and assessed methodological quality.

Data Synthesis  Many features increased the probability of heart failure, with the best feature for each category being the presence of (1) past history of heart failure (positive LR = 5.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.1-8.0); (2) the symptom of paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea (positive LR = 2.6; 95% CI, 1.5-4.5); (3) the sign of the third heart sound (S₃) gallop (positive LR = 11; 95% CI, 4.9-25.0); (4) the chest radiograph showing pulmonary venous congestion (positive LR = 12.0; 95% CI, 6.8-21.0); and (5) electrocardiogram showing atrial fibrillation (positive LR = 3.8; 95% CI, 1.7-8.8). The features that best decreased the probability of heart failure were the absence of (1) past history of heart failure (negative LR = 0.45; 95% CI, 0.38-0.53); (2) the symptom of dyspnea on exertion (negative LR = 0.48; 95% CI, 0.35-0.67); (3) rales (negative LR = 0.51; 95% CI, 0.37-0.70); (4) the chest radiograph showing cardiomegaly (negative LR = 0.33; 95% CI, 0.23-0.48); and (5) any electrocardiogram abnormality (negative LR = 0.64; 95% CI, 0.47-0.88). A low serum BNP proved to be the most useful test (serum B-type natriuretic peptide <100 pg/mL; negative LR = 0.11; 95% CI, 0.07-0.16).

Conclusions  For dyspneic adult emergency department patients, a directed history, physical examination, chest radiograph, and electrocardiography should be performed. If the suspicion of heart failure remains, obtaining a serum BNP level may be helpful, especially for excluding heart failure.

Author Affiliations: Department of Medicine (Drs Wang, FitzGerald, and Ayas) and Division of Respiratory Medicine, Vancouver Hospital and Health Science Centre (Drs FitzGerald and Ayas), University of British Columbia; Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation (Drs Wang, FitzGerald, Schulzer, and Ayas), Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute; and Pacific Parkinson Research Centre, University of British Columbia (Mr Mak), Vancouver, British Columbia.

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