Electrocardiographic diagnosis of coronary syndromes in the critical care unit*

Agreement in electrocardiogram interpretation in patients with septic shock*

“…In addition, noncardiologists make more errors in ECG interpretation than cardiologists in comparison to a panel of expert electrocardiographers; however, the rate of adverse patient outcomes from ECG interpretation errors is reportedly low (22). Further, noncardiologists and less experienced ECG readers are more influenced by patient clinical history in interpreting ECGs than are cardiologists (20,21). Notwithstanding the potential advantages of having a cardiologist interpret all ECGs, real-time interpretation by cardiologists is not feasible in most clinical settings, such as the ICU, and the interpretation of ECGs varies even among expert electrocardiographers (21).…”

“…While cardiology fellowships address the skill of ECG interpretation with a specific curriculum and as part of the board examination and certification process, no other specialties have standardized this important part of training (19). Experts in this area propose formal instruction using standardized criteria to improve ECG interpretation (20). In North America, there is typically little or no formal intensivist training on ECG interpretation, whereas increasingly, echocardiography is being introduced into ICU fellowship curricula.…”