Inpatient telemetry does not need to be used in the management of older patients hospitalized with chest pain at low risk for in-hospital coronary events and mortality.

BACKGROUND Little is known about patients admitted with chest pain to inpatient telemetry units directly from an emergency department. METHODS We analyzed data from 105 consecutive patients who presented with chest pain to an emergency department and who were hospitalized in an inpatient telemetry unit but who were at low risk for a coronary event. RESULTS Telemetry yielded no information which was used to manage any patient. None of the 105 patients (0%) developed a myocardial infarction or died during hospitalization. At 4.8-year follow-up, 8 of 105 patients (8%) died. Significant risk factors for long-term mortality were age (p < .001), prior coronary artery disease (p < .05), and diabetes (p < .02). CONCLUSIONS Inpatient telemetry was of no value in predicting short-term coronary events or mortality or long-term mortality in low-risk patients hospitalized with chest pain.