ABSTRACT
Background: Different approaches of evaluation by cardiologists using telemedicine have the potential of improving care of patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Objective: To compare the use of pharmacoinvasive strategy and associated clinical outcomes (heart failure [HF] and mortality) among patients with STEMI before and after a program of telemedicine and also according to the level of support by telemedicine. Methods: A chest pain network with the support of a cardiologist through telemedicine was implemented in 2012 in 22 emergency departments without a local cardiac catheterization laboratory. Initially (phase 1 of telemedicine), the decision to discuss the case with the cardiologist was based on the judgment of the emergency physician. At the end of 2018, the use of telemedicine was modified and a dedicated cardiologist was available continuously to discuss systematically all suspected cases (phase 2 of telemedicine). The use of fibrinolytics and the rates of HF and in-hospital mortality were compared among three different periods: pretelemedicine (2011), and phase 1 and phase 2 of the telemedicine program. Results: We evaluated 1034 STEMI patients and after comparing the three phases, we did not find significant differences regarding age, gender, and comorbidities. The use of fibrinolytics before transferring STEMI patients to a percutaneous coronary intervention center (pharmacoinvasive strategy) increased after telemedicine implementation (38% vs. 65.2%; p < 0.01), which was associated with a lower rate of HF (23.9% vs. 14.4%; p = 0.01) and death (7.9% vs. 4.0%; p = 0.05). The in-hospital mortality was lower in phase 2 with systematic evaluation by telemedicine compared with pretelemedicine (7.9% vs. 3.3%; p = 0.04). Conclusion: The implementation of a systematic and organized chest pain protocol, including telemedicine support, was associated with a significant increase in the use of pharmacoinvasive strategy and better clinical patient outcomes in patients with STEMI. Our findings provide important insights on how to improve the management of this high-risk population, reducing the gap between evidence and clinical practice.
ABSTRACT
O objetivo deste estudo foi apresentar uma revisão narrativa do atendimento à parada cardiorrespiratória, baseada nas diretrizes mais atuais e, também, uma análise crítica de informações de literatura recente, que vão além das recomendações gerais das diretrizes vigentes. A parada cardiorrespiratória, quando ocorre de forma inesperada, abrupta, em indivíduo que se encontrava estável horas antes do evento, é chamada de morte súbita. Essa condição é a principal causa de óbito extra-hospitalar não traumático e, dentre suas diversas causas, a síndrome coronariana aguda é a mais comum em adultos. Uma vez que a frequência de síndrome coronariana aguda tende a aumentar com o aumento da expectativa de vida e de prevalência de outros fatores de risco na população, a ocorrência de morte súbita também tende a aumentar nesse cenário. No intuito de orientar o atendimento de pacientes em parada cardiorrespiratória, há mais de quatro décadas foram criadas diretrizes internacionais, que evoluíram com o surgimento de novas evidências, especialmente nos últimos 20 anos. Todo médico deve estar preparado para atender uma situação de parada cardiorrespiratória, pois ele pode ser chamado para atender tais casos em diferentes cenários (emergência, unidade de internação ou em ambiente extra-hospitalar). Entretanto, apesar da importância da incorporação de novas evidências nessas diretrizes, mudanças frequentes nas recomendações representam grande desafio para os clínicos se manterem atualizados. Além da dificuldade na atualização permanente, há recomendações feitas pelas diretrizes de sociedades médicas que divergem entre si e são questionadas por especialistas, o que gera dúvida na tomada de decisão do clínico. Conforme pormenorizado neste artigo de atualização, as etapas do algoritmo de Suportes Básico e Avançado de Vida são apresentadas como uma sequência, para facilitar para o socorrista que atua sozinho a oferecer intervenções com impacto na sobrevivência do paciente, devendo priorizar a reanimação cardiopulmonar de qualidade e a desfibrilação precoce, se indicada.
The objective of this study was to present a narrative review of cardiac arrest care based on the most current guidelines, and also a critical analysis of recent literature information that goes beyond the general recommendations of the current guidelines. Cardiac arrest, when occurring unexpectedly, abruptly, in an individual who was stable hours before the event, is called sudden death. This condition is the leading cause of non-traumatic out-of-hospital death and, among its many causes, acute coronary syndrome is the most common in adults. Since the frequency of acute coronary syndrome tends to increase with increasing life expectancy and the prevalence of other risk factors in the population, sudden death also tends to increase in this scenario. In order to guide the care of patients with cardiopulmonary arrest, for over 4 decades, international guidelines have been created and have evolved with the emergence of new evidence, especially in the last 20 years. Every physician should be prepared to deal with a cardiac arrest situation as he or she may be called upon to treat such cases in different scenarios (emergency, inpatient unit or out-of-hospital setting). However, despite the importance of incorporating new evidence into these guidelines, frequent changes to the recommendations pose a major challenge for clinicians to update their knowledge. In addition to the difficulty of constantly updating, there are recommendations made by the guidelines of medical societies that differ from each other and are questioned by specialists, which creates doubt in the process of decision making among clinicians. As detailed in this update article, the stages of the algorithm of Basic and Advanced Life Support are presented in a sequence to help the rescuer who works alone to provide interventions that impact the patient's survival, and prioritize quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation and early defibrillation, if required.
