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Heart attack patients taken directly to heart centres have better long-term survival

Heart attacks in young people and women may be unrecognised by paramedics and patients

Acute Cardiac Care
Acute Coronary Syndromes


Malaga, Spain – 3 March 2019: Heart attack patients taken directly to heart centres for lifesaving treatment have better long-term survival than those transferred from another hospital, reports a large observational study presented today at Acute Cardiovascular Care 20191 a European Society of Cardiology (ESC) congress. Directly admitted patients were older, suggesting that heart attacks in young adults, and particularly women, go unrecognised by paramedics and patients.

Study author Dr Krishnaraj Rathod, of Barts Health NHS Trust, London, UK, said: “The age of first heart attacks is getting younger, one of the reasons is because of lifestyle habits. The average age in our cohort is no longer 60, but around 40 years and we even see patients in their 30s. Directly admitted patients were sicker but they were also older, indicating that paramedics may think heart attack is unlikely in younger adults. My message to them is ‘in cases of doubt, repeat the 12 lead ECG and consider speaking to the heart attack centre’.”

People in their 30s and 40s should not ignore heart attack symptoms, particularly women who often have atypical symptoms, he said. “Younger patients likely wait longer to call for help because if they have chest pain, heart attack is not the first thing they think of. If you are in any doubt, phone an ambulance.”

The study from the London Heart Attack Group included 25,315 patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), a serious type of heart attack where a major artery supplying blood to the heart is blocked. Rapid opening of the artery with a stent using primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) improves survival and guidelines2 advise taking STEMI patients directly to a primary PCI centre.

The study compared characteristics, time to primary PCI, and long-term outcomes of STEMI patients taken directly to a primary PCI hospital versus those transferred from another hospital. Patients with STEMI were treated with primary PCI between 2005 and 2015 at the eight primary PCI centres in London. Patient details were recorded at the time of the procedure in the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society dataset. Data on all-cause mortality were obtained from the Office for National Statistics.

A total of 17,580 (69%) patients were admitted directly to primary PCI centres and 7,735 (31%) were transferred from other hospitals. The time between call for help and first hospital admission was similar between the two groups. However, the median time from call for help to opening the blocked artery with primary PCI was 52 minutes longer in transferred patients compared to those admitted directly.

After a median follow-up of three years, patients admitted directly to a primary PCI centre were significantly less likely to have died than those transferred from another hospital (17.4% versus 18.7%). After adjusting for factors that could influence the risk of death including age, previous heart attack and diabetes, direct admission to a primary PCI hospital was associated with a 20% lower risk of all-cause death.

Dr Rathod said: “Our findings indicate that the superior survival in patients admitted directly to a primary PCI hospital was because there was a shorter gap between calling for help and receiving treatment.”

“All patients with STEMI should be admitted directly to a primary PCI centre within 90 minutes of diagnosis by electrocardiogram (ECG), which is done by ambulance teams,” he said. “Yet in our study nearly one-third were taken to another hospital first, indicating that a STEMI diagnosis was not made until patients reached that hospital, and they then had to be transferred. However, it must be noted that the rates of transfer directly to a primary PCI centre were better in the later years suggesting better identification of appropriate patients by healthcare staff.”

ENDS

Notes to editor

Authors: ESC Press Office
Tel: +33 (0)4 8987 2499
Email: press@escardio.org

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The hashtag for the meeting is #acuteCVD19.

Sources of funding: None.

Disclosures: None.

 

References and notes

1The abstract ‘Inter-hospital transfer for primary PCI has worse outcome compared with direct admission to a heart attack centre: a study of 25,315 patients with STEMI from the London Heart Attack Group’ will be presented during the session ACCA Research Prize on Sunday 3 March at 16:30 to 17:30 CET in Lecture Room 4.

2Ibanez B, James S, Agewall S, et al. 2017 ESC Guidelines for the management of acute myocardial infarction in patients presenting with ST-segment elevation. Eur Heart J. 2018;39:119–177. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehx393.

About the Acute Cardiovascular Care Association

The Acute Cardiovascular Care Association (ACCA) is a branch of the ESC. Its mission is to improve the quality of care and outcomes of patients with acute cardiovascular diseases.

About the Acute Cardiovascular Care congress

Acute Cardiovascular Care is the annual congress of the Acute Cardiovascular Care Association (ACCA) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

About the European Society of Cardiology

The European Society of Cardiology brings together health care professionals from more than 150 countries, working to advance cardiovascular medicine and help people lead longer, healthier lives.

 

Information for journalists attending Acute Cardiovascular Care 2019

Acute Cardiovascular Care 2019 takes place 2 to 4 March at the Palacio de Ferias y Congresos de Malaga (FYCMA) in Malaga, Spain.

  • To register on-site please bring avalid press card or appropriate letter of assignment with proof of three recent published articles (cardiology or health-related, or referring to a previous ESC Event).
  • Press registration is not available to industry or its public relations representatives, event management, marketing or communications representatives.