4 Topic Commentaries

Emergency diagnosis may flag poor outcomes beyond cancer

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  David E. Newman-Toker, MD, PhD

  Neurology; Diagnostic Safety

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  Johns Hopkins Medicine

  The problem of diagnostic errors isn’t unique to the emergency department. It’s something that happens everywhere. The emergency department happens to be a little bit of a high risk place simply because patients are sicker and the context of care is that there are a lot of unknowns, a lot of uncertainty around what’s causing somebody’s symptoms, so it’s a tough place to practice clinically.

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  Robert Herman, MD, PhD

  Cardiology

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  AZORG Hospital, Aalst, Belgium

  AI-driven ECG interpretation can bring the best of both worlds – identify true heart attacks early while reducing unnecessary activations. Improving the accuracy of triage at the first medical contact can streamline emergency care, reduce fatigue and strain on clinical teams, and ensure that patients who truly need urgent intervention receive it without delay.

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  Timothy D. Henry, MD, FACC

  Interventional Cardiology

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  The Christ Hospital Health Network, Cincinnati

  These results indicate that AI-enhanced STEMI diagnosis at the first medical contact has the potential to shorten time to treatment and reduce false activations. This technology may be especially valuable in optimizing the transfer of STEMI patients from non-PCI centers to ensure timely and appropriate care.

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  Julie R. Gralow, MD, FACP, FASCO

  Medical Oncology

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  American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)

  While the Galleri-NHS study results show some encouraging trends toward tumor downstaging, it is important to recognize that the trial did not statistically reduce late-stage cancers by its predefined primary endpoint. Nevertheless, these findings still offer genuine hope for deadly malignancies that currently lack screening options, such as ovarian and pancreatic cancer. Longer-term follow-up and the eagerly awaited results of the US REACH trial will provide the critical additional information we need to fully evaluate the population-level benefits versus the risks of MCEDs.

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