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Acute coronary syndromes

Bypassing the emergency department to treat STEMI

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In a study conducted in selected US hospitals, bypassing the emergency department with direct transport to the cardiac catheterization laboratory resulted in a reduced time to reperfusion for patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. However, this strategy was used infrequently—mostly during working hours—and varied significantly between hospitals.

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Figure 1: Causes of delay to reperfusion.

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Acknowledgements

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the US government. This article is the result of work supported by resources from the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA, USA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, University of Washington, 1100 Olive Way #1400, Seattle, 98101, WA, USA

    Charles Maynard

  2. Department of Veterans Affairs Eastern Colorado Health Care System, University of Colorado, 1055 Clermont Street, Denver, 80220, CO, USA

    Steven M. Bradley

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  1. Charles Maynard
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Correspondence to Charles Maynard.

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Maynard, C., Bradley, S. Bypassing the emergency department to treat STEMI. Nat Rev Cardiol 10, 491–492 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2013.113

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