J Korean Soc Emerg Med.  1999 Dec;10(4):599-606.

An Analysis of The Patients with Non-Traumatic Chest Pain Patients in Emergency Department according to Goldman's Algorithm

• Cho SJ
• Yoo JH
• Kim CW
• Eo EK
• Jung KY

Abstract

BACKGROUND: It is important to evaluate the patient presenting with non-traumatic chest pain in emergency department, and it is also difficult to classify appropriately. The purpose of this study is to predict probability of acute myocardial infarction(AMI) and assess the group for low probability of AMI that is target for observation-unit of chest pain in emergency department.
METHODS
A prospective, clinical study was performed from March 1998 to August 1998 at the department of emergency medicine, Ewha Womans University Mokdong hospital. We classified high-probability group and low-probability group of AMI according to Goldman's algorithm and then compared with the final diagnosis.
RESULTS
The study included 218 patients. 84 patients(39%) was the high-probability group and 134 patients(61%) was the low-probability group of AMI. As compared with final diagnosis, AMI was 47 patients(56%) among the high-probability group and 1 patient(0.7%) among the low-probability group. We observed sensitivity of 98%, specificity of 78% in predicting AMI.
CONCLUSION
The classification according to Goldman's algorithm may be useful predictor of AMI and improve triage for emergency department patient with chest pain. It is also helpful for management of observation-unit of chest pain in emergency department.

MeSH Terms

Chest Pain*
Classification
Diagnosis
Emergencies*
Emergency Medicine
Emergency Service, Hospital*
Female
Humans
Prospective Studies
Sensitivity and Specificity
Thorax*
Triage