A workstation for data consultation and clinical decision-support in the department of cardiology

A project for the realization of a Local Area Network in the department of Cardiology (LAN-C) is in progress at our institute with the objective of the integration of heterogeneous data acquired from diagnostic equipment to help clinical decision making. A special workstation of LAN-C, presented in this paper, has been designed for supporting data consultation and decision making. It integrates a set of applications: data retrieval and presentation, diagnostic and treatment planning protocols, in-depth analysis clinical decision support. Initially, the protocol for diagnosis of coronary artery disease and a module for the analysis of follow-up data were developed. Relevant diagnostic information is retrieved from the LAN-C database according to a protocol logic, defined by the cardiological staff. Regional myocardial wall motion and perfusion are represented at rest and during stress by 2-D synthetic diagrams. The module for statistical analysis allows one to select patients, followed up after discharge, for the identification of prognostic variables by the use of Cox regression model (BMDP 2L)