Obstructive myocardial infarction with normal automated ECG interpretation: A case report

Emergency Medicine physicians experience a significant number of interruptions throughout their work day. One common cause of interruptions is the immediate interpretation of triage electrocardiograms (ECGs). Recent studies have suggested that ECGs interpreted as normal via automated analysis by the ECG machine rarely require urgent cardiac intervention and suggested that providers may not have to be interrupted to interpret these "normal" ECGs. We describe the case of a patient who presented to the Emergency Department (ED) with chest pain and an ECG interpreted as normal by an automated reading from the ECG machine, despite having acute coronary syndrome requiring emergent intervention.