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Article: How to improve the management of chest pain: hospitalists and use of prediction rules.
- Article from:
- Southern Medical Journal
- Article date:
- March 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Southern Medical Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Background: Three percent of patients with acute myocardial infarction are still missed despite the excess number of admissions with chest pain. The purpose of this study was to review the characteristics of patients who were admitted with chest pain, to evaluate the appropriateness of admissions and the outcomes. We also discuss whether use of a prediction rule could have made a difference in the management of these cases.
Methods: We performed retrospective chart review on all patients admitted to the hospitalist service with a diagnosis of chest pain. Each patient was risk stratified using Diamond and Forrester algorithm for probability of coronary artery ...