Emergency department activation of an interventional cardiology team reduces door-to-balloon times in ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction.
OBJECTIVE
American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology guidelines recommend door-to-balloon times of fewer than 90 minutes in patients with acute ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction. We hypothesized that immediate activation of an interventional cardiology team (code H) would reduce the time to percutaneous coronary intervention by 1 hour and increase the proportion of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention within 90 minutes of arrival.


METHODS
Study design was a before-and-after trial in an academic suburban emergency department (ED) with a certified cardiac catheterization laboratory. Subjects were a consecutive sample of patients presenting to the ED with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction evident on the initial ECG. Patients without chest pain and refusing catheterization were excluded. The intervention was the use of a central paging system for activation of the interventional cardiology team (attending physician, fellow, nurse, technician) by emergency physicians in patients presenting to the ED with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction. Measures were demographic and clinical information collected with standardized data collection forms. Outcomes were door-to-balloon times and the proportion of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention within 90 minutes of arrival. Groups were compared with chi2 and t tests.


RESULTS
There were 97 patients included in the study; 43 were treated in the 2 years before implementation of the code H and 54 patients were treated the subsequent 2 years. Mean age (SD) was 56.9 years (13.7), 27% were women, and 86% were white. Groups were similar in age, sex, and race. Implementation of a code H reduced the median door-to-balloon time by 68 minutes (from 176 to 108 minutes; P<.001) and increased the proportion of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention within 90 minutes from 2.8% to 29.0% (mean difference 26.5; 95% confidence interval 15.0 to 36.9). To determine whether further improvements occurred, 48 patients treated in 2006 showed a 20-minute further reduction in door-to-balloon time; 52% underwent angioplasty within 90 minutes of ED presentation.


CONCLUSIONS
Institutional implementation of a protocol that requires emergency physicians to activate an interventional cardiology team response in ED patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction reduces the door-to-balloon time and increases the proportion of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention within 90 minutes.
Singer
Adam J
AJ
Department of Emergency Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-8500, USA. adam.singer@stonybrook.edu
Shembekar
Amit
A
Visram
Farid
F
Schiller
Joshua
J
Russo
Valerie
V
Lawson
William
W
Gomes
Carol A
CA
Santora
Carolyn
C
Maliszewski
Mary
M
Wilbert
Lisa
L
Dowdy
Eileen
E
Viccellio
Peter
P
Henry
Mark C
MC
D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000628:therapy*; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013997:Time Factors