New EKG tool predicts patient risk of dying
February 1, 1998 less than 1 minute read
New EKG tool predicts patient risk of dying
The appropriate use of thrombolytic drugs would rise with a new computerized decision-making tool built into a standard electrocardiograph machine that predicts which heart attack victims are likely to benefit from the treatment, according to a multicenter research study.
In many cases, patients who could benefit from thrombolytic treatment don’t receive it because of fear of complications, the authors noted. The predictive instrument is designed to help emergency department physicians make quicker judgments about the benefits of thrombolysis.
Based on the patients EKG and other clinical information, the instrument estimates the patients probability (from zero to 100%) of suffering cardiac arrest within 48 hours, dying within 30 days, or dying within a year, if the patient is or is not given thrombolytic therapy in the emergency department. It also calculates the patient’s likelihood of developing serious complications from the thrombolytic therapy, including hemorrhagic stroke, or major bleeding.
The instrument was developed and tested by researchers from New England Medical Center/Tufts University School of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, the University of Washington School of Medicine, Boston University’s Department of Mathematics, Harbor-University of California-Los Angeles Medical Center and the University of Southern California’s Department of Medicine.
Further testing of the instrument is necessary before it becomes available for widespread use, the authors said.
Selker HP, Griffith JL, Beshansky JR. Patient-specific predictions of outcomes in myocardial infarction for real-time emergency use: A thrombolytic predictive instrument. Annals of Internal Medicine 1997; 127:538-556.
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