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Myocardial infarction

Prevalence
Clinical features
Differential diagnosis
Investigations
Therapy
Prevention
Prognosis
Clinical features

Think about a myocardial infarction in any patient who present with c
  • chest pain
  • tachycardia
  • dyspnoea
  • syncope
  • weakness

 Why?

Absence of five chief complaints makes a myocardial infarction unlikely

Patient Target Disorder and
Reference Standard		 Diagnostic Test LR+
(95% CI) 		Post-test Probability LR-
(95% CI) 		Post-test Probability
attending emergency department  c
(pre-test probability: 0.8%) 		myocardial infarction
(final diagnosis on discharge from emergency department) 		chief complaint one of chest pain, tachycardia, dyspnoea, syncope or weakness 14
(13 to 15) 		10% 0.068
(0.036 to 0.13) 		0.05%
 

 

Expiry date: November 2003
Levels of Evidence used in grading these guides

Author   CM   Ball , N   Shenker
Reviewer   S   Straus
CAT Writers   CJ   Wotton , N   Shenker , B   Phillips , CM   Ball