Echocardiographic Assessment of Acute Chest Pain in the CCU

The field of critical care cardiology has evolved considerably over the past few decades. Cardiac units in the 1970s and the 1980s were practically coronary care units, where the units most frequently were populated by patients with acute and often uncomplicated myocardial infarction or unstable angina. Detection and rapid treatment of arrhythmias were the primary goals of therapy. Contemporary cardiac care units (CCU) have transformed into Cardiac intensive care units (CICU) where the focus has since shifted towards the management of patients with multisystem diseases, advanced hemodynamics compromise, complex ventricular arrhythmias, and established or incipient multi-organ failure. The two most common clinical scenarios leading to acute chest pain syndrome in CCU patients are acute coronary syndrome and acute aortic syndrome.