When every minute matters
Hospitals focus on faster treatment for heart attack patients
Minutes can mean the difference between life and death during a heart attack. The longer blood flow is restricted to the heart during an attack, the more extensive the damage can be. To reduce damage, the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends heart attack patients be diagnosed and treated as quickly as possible. For many patients, treatment means angioplasty, a procedure that uses a balloon attached to a catheter to reopen blocked arteries.
“The quicker we get patients from the emergency department to the cardiac catheterization lab for angioplasty to restore blood flow to the heart muscle, the more likely we are to stop significant damage,” said Shanker Chandiramani, M.D., cardiology.
The AHA and American College of Cardiology (ACC) recommend heart attack patients in the emergency department be triaged, diagnosed and sent for angioplasty, a process referred to as door-to-balloon, in less than 90 minutes. Despite the recommendation, a 2006 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found the average door-to-balloon time was 100.4 minutes. Since the study was published, hospitals and physicians have been looking for ways to reduce the time it takes to prepare patients for angioplasty.
“Previously, patients exhibiting symptoms of a heart attack were first seen by the emergency room physician and cardiologist before the cath lab was activated,” said Eric Baker, M.D., emergency medicine. “Now the emergency room physician is able to activate the cath lab, and we have been able to significantly reduce the time it takes to get patients from door to balloon.”
The AHA reports that with improved door-to-balloon times, heart attack size has decreased by 40 percent and average hospital stays have been reduced by
two days.
–Steven Jenkins
Want to know more?
Visit NortonHeartCare.com for more information on heart attack symptoms and risk factors.
Norton Audubon Hospital developed a system to dramatically reduce door-to-balloon time for heart attack patients. During the first three months of 2008, 100 percent of the hospital’s heart attack patients underwent angioplasty less than 90 minutes from arrival in the emergency department.
These strategies have been featured at the annual ACC National Cardiovascular Data Registry Conference in Chicago and published in Cardiology magazine.
“We’re extremely proud of the progress we have made,” said Mike Esposito, system vice president of cardiovascular and pulmonary care for Norton Healthcare. “It helps set the care Norton Audubon provides apart and helps raise the standard for our entire community.”
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