Failure to Diagnose Heart Attack

    /24-7PressRelease/ - January 17, 2008 - Each year nearly 5 million people in the country visit emergency rooms with heart attack symptoms including chest pains - the most obvious and well known symptom. Since heart attack symptoms are similar to a number of other non-life threatening conditions, some doctors may fail to appreciate the severity of the situation and misdiagnose the patient's medical condition.

Common symptoms of a heart attack include:

· Chest pain usually described as tightness in the chest or a crushing weight against the chest, which is accompanied by profuse sweating. The pain may radiate to the left shoulder and arm, neck or jaw.
· Chest pain usually precipitated by exercise or stress that does not clear up upon rest or relaxation.
· Mild chest pain with unexplained fatigue and general feeling of ill health.
· A feeling of indigestion or heartburn.
· Nausea and vomiting.
· A fear of impending death.

The degree of pain and symptoms of a heart attack vary greatly among individuals. Some people may feel severe pain while others may feel only a tingling sensation. Some people may just have an unusual feeling of fullness, squeezing or pressure in the chest.

Doctors need to recognize that many people present with atypical signs of a heart attack. About one-third of all heart attack patients do not even have chest pains at all, putting them at a much higher risk of misdiagnosis. Women and elderly are particularly more likely to have atypical symptoms. Before a heart attack women are more likely than men to be nauseous and experience pain high in the abdomen or chest. Their first symptoms may be extreme fatigue after physical activity rather than chest pain.

Some of the most common mistakes made during the diagnosis of a heart attack include:
· Failure to diagnose a heart attack in younger patients
· Improper reading of a patient's ECG
· Failure to consider a heart condition in women

While the proper diagnosis of a heart attack can often be difficult due to the vague nature of some symptoms, doctors still need to apply careful and attentive consideration to the following factors:

· The patient's age
· Medical history
· Drug interactions
· Exercise
· Alcohol or drug use
· Smoking
· Menopause
· Any previous heart conditions

Failing to use recognize these symptoms or to abide by the proper standard of care in diagnosing a heart attack is a leading cause of medical malpractice lawsuits.

Visit the website of Trantolo & Trantolo, LLC for more information on failure to diagnose heart attacks.

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