Diagnostic discrepancies in clinical practice: An autopsy study in patients with heart failure

Autopsies are the gold standard for diagnostic accuracy; however, no recent study has analyzed autopsies in heart failure (HF). We reviewed 1241 autopsies (January 2000–May 2005) and selected 232 patients with HF. Clinical and autopsy diagnoses were analyzed and discrepancies categorized according to their importance regarding therapy and prognosis. Mean age was 63.3 ± 15.9 years; 154 (66.4%) patients were male. The causes of death at autopsy were end-stage HF (40.9%), acute myocardial infarction (17.2%), infection (15.9), and pulmonary embolism 36 (15.5). Diagnostic discrepancies occurred in 191 (82.3%) cases; in 56 (24.1%), discrepancies were related to major diagnoses with potential influence on survival or treatment; pulmonary embolism was the cause of death for 24 (42.9%) of these patients. In 35 (15.1%), discrepancies were related to a major diagnosis with equivocal influence on survival or treatment; in 100 (43.1%), discrepancies did not influence survival or treatment. In multivariate analysis, age (OR: 1.03, 95% CI: 1.008–1.052, P = 0.007) and presence of diabetes mellitus (OR: 0.359, 95% CI: 0.168–0.767, P = 0.008) influenced the occurrence discrepancies. Diagnostic discrepancies with a potential impact on prognosis are frequent in HF. These findings warrant reconsideration in diagnostic and therapeutic practices with HF patients.