The electrocardiogram (ECG) is the recording of the heart's electrical activity from the surface of the body and has been worldwide used in routine medical practice since the last century. This is a first-rate tool for a rapid interpretation of cardiac rhythm and for assessment and immediate therapeutic management in patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome, which is a clinical entity that includes unstable angina and acute myocardial infarction with and without ST-segment elevation. Currently, electrocardiographs from various manufacturers are capable of providing automatic diagnosis of ECGs, but there are few published studies about the performance of these equipments. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the performance of an interpretive electrocardiograph in order to determine their suitability for use in a computer system that uses the medical history information obtained by the general practitioner and the electrocardiographic report emitted by the equipment evaluated to aid the diagnosis of acute coronary syndromes, when the patient is not treated by cardiologists. We used an interpretive electrocardigraph Nihon Kohden Cardiofax 9620. The electrocardiograph simulator Metron PS 420 was the choice for the simulated tests, and also we compared the performance of the Cardiofax with a telemedicine system available in a semi-rural area in Brazil. The tests resulted in 93.8% sensitivity and 83.3% specificity that were considered satisfactory in clinical situations compatible with acute myocardial ischemia, validating their use in an artificial intelligence system for the diagnosis of ACS.
Electrocardiogram (ECG); Interpretive electrocardiograph; Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS)
