A clinical trial of a computer diagnosis program for chest pain

The US Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory (NSMRL) has developed a computer program to aid corpsmen in the diagnosis and management of chest pain. The diagnostic accuracy of the program was compared with that of emergency room physicians. For 132 patients, the difference between the correct diagnosis by the computer program (72%) and by the physicians (79%) was not significant. The computer program distinguished myocardial infraction (MI) from other diseases as well as the physicians (93% vs. 84%), and made fewer false diagnoses of MI; however, it misdiagnosed more cases of angina. Although the computer did not distinguish among cardiac illnesses as well as the physicians, it is thought to be helpful to medical personnel in isolated locations.<
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