Emergency department treatment of acute coronary syndromes.

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a broad term encompassing a spectrum of acute myocardial ischemia and injury ranging from unstable angina and non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction to ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. ACS accounts for approximately 1.2 million hospital admissions in the United States annually. The aging of the United States population, along with the national obesity epidemic and the associated increase in metabolic syndrome, means that the number of individuals at risk for ACS will continue to increase for the foreseeable future. This article reviews the current evidence and guidelines for the treatment of patients along the continuum of ACS.