Key result
Correct antemortem diagnosis was achieved in only 53% of 100 consecutive cases of autopsy-proved acute myocardial infarction.
Observational (n=100)
No
A retrospective autopsy study revealed that 47% of acute myocardial infarctions were missed antemortem, often due to overreliance on misleading labs or atypical presentations.
High rates of missed antemortem MI diagnoses in autopsy series warrant diagnostic caution; leaves open whether modern testing has improved accuracy.
A retrospective study of 100 consecutive cases of autopsy-proved acute myocardial infarction has disclosed a surprisingly low frequency (53%) of correct antemortem diagnoses. Incorrect diagnoses seemed to be caused by (1) unjustified dependence on misleading laboratory studies, (2) inattention to suggestive or diagnostic laboratory studies, (3) atypical or obscure presentation of myocardial infarction, and (4) failure to consider acute myocardial infarction as a diagnostic possibility, particularly when the responsible physician was not a specialist in internal medicine or its subspecialty of cardiology. Suggested corrective measures are a more appropriate use of the ECG and the laboratory and education and reeducation of selected groups of physicians. (JAMA1983;250:1177-1181)
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E. J. Zarling (1983) conducted an observational in Acute myocardial infarction (n=100). Clinical diagnosis was evaluated on Correct antemortem diagnoses. Correct antemortem diagnosis was achieved in only 53% of 100 consecutive cases of autopsy-proved acute myocardial infarction.
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