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Chest pain in the accident and emergency department: is chest radiography worthwhile?
P A Templeton1, W A McCallion, L A McKinney
1Accident and Emergency Department, Ulster Hospital, Dundonald, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Archives of Emergency Medicine
|June 1, 1991
Abstract:
Four per cent of patients attend the Accident and Emergency Department (A&E) present with chest pain. In this prospective study of 297 patients the value of chest radiography is assessed. Overall, 23% of chest X-rays (CXRs) had an abnormality which influenced management of the patient, rising to 40% in those patients admitted to Coronary Care. Twenty-nine per cent of CXRs were misinterpreted by Casualty Officers but resulted in the mismanagement of only six patients (3.3%). Potentially serious errors were averted by early CXR audit by a Radiologist.