Background: A small percentage of patients who present to the emergency department are discharged despite meeting criteria for acute myocardial infarction (MI), which can result in increased morbidity and mortality. In the ambulatory care setting, the diagnosis of acute MI provides more of a challenge because of the lack of diagnostic testing. In primary care, the missed diagnosis of acute MI is one of the leading reasons for malpractice litigation. Currently, there are no studies that evaluate how often patients with acute MI were examined in the ambulatory setting before hospitalization. Sequist and associates assessed the number of patients with acute MI and no history of CHD who were evaluated by primary care professionals before the event. They also assessed prediction tools for the ability to identify patients at risk.
展开▼
