Abstract

FUENMAYOR A, Abdel J et al. Usefulness of simple scheme for the diagnosis of cardiac arrhythmias. Arch. Cardiol. Méx. [online]. 2004, vol.74, n.3, pp.200-204. ISSN 1665-1731.

Objective: To determine whether an algorythm designed at our Electrophysiology Unit could facilitate the electrocardiographic diagnosis of tachyarrhythmias. Methods: Twenty two first-year cardiology residents, general practitioners and last-year medical students attended an electro-physiology course. One hundred ECG of tachyarrhythmic patients were distributed to the participants who were then randomly divided into 2 groups. Group A analyzed the ECG with the help of the algorythm, whereas Group B analyzed them without it. Results were compared to those obtained by an electrophysiologist. Results: Group A diagnosis coincided with that of the electrophysiologist in 41% of the cases. In Group B the concordance reached 64% (p = 0.0000013). There was no between-group difference regarding the type and number of uninterpreted ECG. Conclusions: The decision tree increases diagnostic accuracy in less expert hands. This could in turn entail an improvement in the therapeutic measures applied to the study of arrhythmias.

Keywords : Tachycardia; Electrocardiogram; Diagnosis; Algorythm.

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