Includes synopsis. / Includes bibliographical references. / Cardiac auscultation is inherently qualitative, highly subjective and requires considerable skill and experience. Computer- assisted auscultation (CAA) is an objective referral-decision support tool that aims to minimise inappropriate referrals. This study evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of 2 CAA systems, Cardioscan® and Sensi®, in detecting echo-confirmed cardiac abnormalities in 79 consecutive patients referred for assessment to a tertiary cardiac clinic. CAA demonstrated suboptimal sensitivity and specificity in detecting cardiac abnormalities in children and adults. As both systems demonstrate 100% sensitivity in detecting acyanotic heart disease, and theoretically carry significant potential in resource-limited settings, further development of current technologies to improve sensitivity and specificity for clinical applications is still warranted.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/11714 |
Date | January 2011 |
Creators | Zühlke, Liesl |
Contributors | Myer, Landon |
Publisher | University of Cape Town, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Public Health and Family Medicine |
Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
Language | English |
Detected Language | English |
Type | Master Thesis, Masters, MPH |
Format | application/pdf |
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