Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Acute coronary syndromes

Reducing door-to-balloon time for STEMI—success at a price

  • News & Views
  • Published:

From Nature Reviews Cardiology

View current issue Sign up to alerts

To achieve timely restoration of coronary flow in patients with acute myocardial infarction, the decision to call in the cardiac catheterization team has moved ever earlier, and is often made before cardiologist evaluation. Door-to-balloon times have been reduced, but the price of this success is an increase in 'false alarms'.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Van de Werf, F. et al. Management of acute myocardial infarction in patients presenting with ST-segment elevation. The Task Force on the Management of Acute Myocardial Infarction of the European Society of Cardiology. Eur. Heart J. 29, 2909–2945 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Nallamothu, B. K., Bradley, E. H. & Krumholz, H. M. Time to treatment in primary percutaneous coronary intervention. N. Engl. J. Med. 357, 1631–1638 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. McCabe, J. M. et al. Prevalence and factors associated with false-positive ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction diagnoses at primary percutaneous coronary intervention-capable centers: a report from the Activate-SF registry. Arch. Intern. Med. 172, 864–871 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Larson, D. M. et al. “False-positive” cardiac catheterization laboratory activation among patients with suspected ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. JAMA 298, 2754–2760 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Mixon, T. A. et al. Retrospective description and analysis of consecutive catheterization laboratory ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction activations with proposal, rationale, and use of a new classification scheme. Circ. Cardiovasc. Qual. Outcomes 5, 62–69 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Jollis, J. G. et al. False positive catheterization laboratory activation rates in the RACE Regional ST elevation myocardial infarction program [abstract 1101–286]. J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 55, A109.E1016 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Levine, G. N. et al. 2011 ACCF/AHA/SCAI Guideline for Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: executive summary: a report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions. Circulation 124, 2574–2609 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Wijns, W. et al. Guidelines on myocardial revascularization. Eur. Heart J. 31, 2501–2555 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Roe, M. T. et al. Treatments, trends, and outcomes of acute myocardial infarction and percutaneous coronary intervention. J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 56, 254–263 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Mehta, R. H. et al. Achieving rapid reperfusion with primary percutaneous coronary intervention remains a challenge: insights from American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines program. Am. Heart J. 155, 1059–1067 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, TIMI Study Group, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 350 Longwood Avenue, 1st Floor, Boston, 02115, MA, USA

    Nihar R. Desai & David A. Morrow

Authors
  1. Nihar R. Desai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David A. Morrow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David A. Morrow.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Desai, N., Morrow, D. Reducing door-to-balloon time for STEMI—success at a price. Nat Rev Cardiol 9, 437–438 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2012.95

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2012.95

  • Springer Nature Limited

Search

Navigation