document: Assessment of prehospital chest pain using telecardiology Two hundred general practitioners were equipped with a portable electrocardiograph which could transmit a 12-lead electrocardiogram -LRB- ECG -RRB- via a telephone line . A cardiologist was available 24 h a day for an interactive teleconsultation . In a 13 month period there were 5073 calls to the telecardiology service and 952 subjects with chest pain were identified . The telecardiology service allowed the general practitioners to manage 700 cases -LRB- 74 % -RRB- themselves ; further diagnostic tests were requested for 162 patients -LRB- 17 % -RRB- and 83 patients -LRB- 9 % -RRB- were sent to the hospital emergency department . In the last group a cardiological diagnosis was confirmed in 60 patients and refuted in 23 . Seven patients in whom the telecardiology service failed to detect a cardiac problem were hospitalized in the subsequent 48 h . The telecardiology service showed a sensitivity of 97.4 % , a specificity of 89.5 % and a diagnostic accuracy of 86.9 % for chest pain . Telemedicine could be a useful tool in the diagnosis of chest pain in primary care
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