Rapid Heart Attack Diagnostics Don't Shorten Emergency Department Stays, Study Finds

The PRESC1SE-MI trial, presented at ESC Congress 2026 and published in The Lancet, found that a one-hour cardiac troponin measurement pathway for heart attacks is as safe as a three-hour pathway. However, this rapid diagnostic method did not reduce overall emergency department stay lengths or increase direct discharge rates for patients. This indicates that while faster diagnosis is possible, it doesn't necessarily accelerate patient throughput in the ED.