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The following is a summary of “Investigation of the Relationship Between the Measured Alpha Angle in Capnography and Readmission Within Thirty Days in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients Who Presented to the Emergency Department,” published in the November 2024 issue of Emergency Medicine by Tuncekin et al. 

Individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were often presented to the emergency department (ED) with dyspnea, but there was no ideal method for predicting mortality or guiding hospitalization decisions. Side-stream end-tidal carbon dioxide (EtCO₂) measurements emerged a non-invasive, accessible, and reproducible tool to aid the assessments.  

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to examine the association between alpha angle values measured by capnography and 30-day readmission rates in individuals with COPD discharged from the ED after treatment for acute exacerbations.  

They analyzed the records of 130 patients aged 18 years above who were presented to the ED with dyspnea. After excluding 40 ineligible patients, 90 patients were included. and obtained alpha angle and EtCO₂ values at admission and post-treatment. The primary outcome was the association between alpha angle measurements and 30-day readmission rates, and the secondary outcome was the association between EtCO₂ values and 30-day readmission.  

The results showed that out of the initial 130 participants presenting with dyspnea in the ED of a tertiary care university hospital, 40 individuals were excluded following eligibility screening, leaving data from 90 participants for analysis, EtCO₂ and alpha angle values were measured for each participant upon admission and after treatment. A significant association was observed between both the pretreatment and post-treatment alpha angle measurements and 30-day readmission rates (P= 0.001, P = 0.003). Additionally, EtCO₂ values showed relevance to readmission likelihood within the same period.  

Investigators concluded that alpha angle values measured in individuals with COPD presenting to the ED for dyspnea could predict the likelihood of readmission. 

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0736467924001719