Expert system support for the therapeutic management of cerebrovascular disease

摘要

The arteriosclerotic narrowing of the internal carotid artery and its branches is one of the frequent causes of severe ischemic cerebrovascular disease in the elderly. The primary treatment goal is the prevention of complete stroke. The avoidance of inappropriate therapeutic management requires a careful screening of numerous clinical and laboratory findings. The present paper describes a medical consultation system for advising the novice physician in performing this screening task. The program recommends the most appropriate therapy and is able to give explanations in a limited range. It also illustrates how complex routine tasks in clinical medicine can be improved and standardized by using an expert system.