To evaluate the application of radionuclide infarct scintigraphy to diagnose myocardial infarction after revascularization, we obtained postoperative technetium 99m pyrophosphate myocardial scintigrams, serial electrocardiograms and CPK-MB isoenzymes in ten control and 51 revascularized patients. All control patients had negative electrocardiograms and scintigrams, but eight had positive isoenz...

The purpose of this study was to explore the feasibility of developing artificial neural networks that are able to provide confidence measures for their diagnostic advice. Computer-aided decision making can improve physician performance, but many physicians hesitate to use these 'black boxes'. If we are to rely upon decision support systems for such tasks as medical diagnosis it is essential th...

Twelve-lead electrocardiograms and orthogonal electrocardiograms taken with Frank's corrected orthogonal lead system have been compared in 259 patients with recent myocardial infarction. In the scalar electrocardiograms a diagnostic recognition rate of 62 per cent was recorded. QIRratios > 0O2I in X lead, > o 22 in Y lead, and I -20 in Z lead were used as signs of myocardial infarctio...

The pericardium surrounds the heart and consists of a visceral layer, which is contiguous with the epicardium of the heart, and a parietal layer, which forms a sac around the heart (Wann & Passen, 2008). Located between the parietal and visceral layers is a potential space called the pericardial cavity. The pericardial cavity normally contains as much as 50 mL of an ultrafiltrate of plasma. Ana...