Decision to deploy coronary reperfusion is not affected by the volume of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients managed by prehospital emergency medical teams.

OBJECTIVE: Mortality in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) has been associated with the volume of activity of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) facilities. This observational study investigated whether the coronary reperfusion-decision rate is associated with the volume of activity in a prehospital emergency setting. METHODS: Prospectively collected data for the period 2003-2013 were extracted from a regional registry of all STEMI patients handled by eight dispatch centers (SAMUs) in and around Paris [41 mobile ICU (MICUs)]. A possible association between volume of activity (number of STEMIs) and coronary reperfusion-decision rate, and subsidiarily between volume of activity and choice of technique (fibrinolysis vs. primary PCI), were investigated. Explanatory factors (patient age, sex, delay between pain onset and first medical contact, and access to a PCI facility) were analyzed in a multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Overall, 18 162 patients; male/female 3.5/1; median age 62 (52-72) years were included in the analysis. The median number of STEMIs per MICU was 339 (IQ 220-508) and that of reperfusion-decisions was 94% (91-95). There was no association between the decision rate and the number of STEMIs (P = 0.1). However, the decision rate was associated with age, sex, delay, and access to a PCI facility (P < 0.0001) in a highly significant way. Fibrinolysis was a more frequent option for low-volume (remoter PCI facilities) than high-volume MICUs (30 vs. 16%). CONCLUSION: The decision of coronary reperfusion in a prehospital emergency setting depended on patient characteristics, delay between pain onset and first medical contact, and access to a PCI facility, but not on volume of activity. Promoting fibrinolysis use in underserved areas might help increase the reperfusion-decision rate.

Incidence, Mortality, and Outcome-Predictors of Sudden Cardiac Arrest Complicating Myocardial Infarction Prior to Hospital Admission.

BACKGROUND: Mortality of ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) decreased drastically, mainly through reduction in inhospital mortality. Prehospital sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) became one of the most feared complications. We assessed the incidence, outcome, and prognosis' predictors of prehospital SCA occurring after emergency medical services (EMS) arrival. METHODS AND RESULTS: Data were taken between 2006 and 2014 from the e-MUST study (Evaluation en Médecine d'Urgence des Strategies Thérapeutiques des infarctus du myocarde) that enrolls all STEMI managed by EMS in the Greater Paris Area, including those dead before hospital admission. Among 13 253 STEMI patients analyzed, 749 (5.6%) presented EMS-witnessed prehospital SCA. Younger age, absence of cardiovascular risk factors, symptoms of heart failure, extensive STEMI, and short pain onset-to-call and call-to-EMS arrival delays were independently associated with increased SCA risk. Mortality rate at hospital discharge was 4.0% in the nonSCA group versus 37.7% in the SCA group ( P<0.001); 26.8% of deaths occurred before hospital admission. Factors associated with increased mortality after SCA were age, heart failure, and extensive STEMI, while male sex and cardiovascular risk factors were associated with decreased mortality. Among patients admitted alive, PCI was the most important mortality-reduction predictor (odds ratio, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.25-0.63; P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: More than 1 of 20 STEMI presents prehospital SCA after EMS arrival. SCA occurrence is associated with a 10-fold higher mortality at hospital discharge compared with STEMI without SCA. PCI is the strongest survival predictor, leading to a twice-lower mortality. This highlights the persistently dramatic impact of SCA on STEMI and the major importance of PCI in this setting.

Time-Course Reduction in Patient Exposure to Radiation From Coronary Interventional Procedures: The Greater Paris Area Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Registry.

BACKGROUND: The frequency of complex percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) has increased in the last few years, with a growing concern on the radiation dose received by the patients. Multicenter data from large unselected populations on patients' radiation doses during coronary angiography (CA) and PCI and temporal trends are lacking. This study sought to evaluate the temporal trends in patients' exposure to radiation from CA and PCI. METHODS AND RESULTS: Data were taken from the CARDIO-ARSIF registry that prospectively collects data on all CAs and PCIs performed in the 36 catheterization laboratories in the Greater Paris Area, the most populated regions in France with about 12 million inhabitants. Kerma area product and Fluoroscopy time from 152 684 consecutive CAs and 103 177 PCIs performed between 2009 and 2013 were analyzed. A continuous trend for a decrease in median [interquartile range] Kerma area product was observed, from 33 [19-55] Gy cm2 in 2009 to 27 [16-44] Gy cm2 in 2013 for CA (P<0.0001), and from 73 [41-125] to 55 [31-91] Gy cm2 for PCI (P<0.0001). Time-course differences in Kerma area product remained highly significant after adjustment on Fluoroscopy time, PCI procedure complexity, change of x-ray equipment, and other patient- and procedure-related covariates. CONCLUSIONS: In a large patient population, a steady temporal decrease in patient radiation exposure during CA and PCI was noted between 2009 and 2013. Kerma area product reduction was consistent in all types of procedure and was independent of patient-related factors and PCI procedure complexity.

Identifying Patients at Risk for Prehospital Sudden Cardiac Arrest at the Early Phase of Myocardial Infarction: The e-MUST Study (Evaluation en Médecine d'Urgence des Stratégies Thérapeutiques des infarctus du myocarde).

BACKGROUND: In-hospital mortality of ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) has decreased drastically. In contrast, prehospital mortality from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) remains high and difficult to reduce. Identification of the patients with STEMI at higher risk for prehospital SCA could facilitate rapid triage and intervention in the field. METHODS: Using a prospective, population-based study evaluating all patients with STEMI managed by emergency medical services in the greater Paris area (11.7 million inhabitants) between 2006 and 2010, we identified characteristics associated with an increased risk of prehospital SCA and used these variables to build an SCA prediction score, which we validated internally and externally. RESULTS: In the overall STEMI population (n=8112; median age, 60 years; 78% male), SCA occurred in 452 patients (5.6%). In multivariate analysis, younger age, absence of obesity, absence of diabetes mellitus, shortness of breath, and a short delay between pain onset and call to emergency medical services were the main predictors of SCA. A score built from these variables predicted SCA, with the risk increasing 2-fold in patients with a score between 10 and 19, 4-fold in those with a score between 20 and 29, and >18-fold in patients with a score ≥30 compared with those with scores <10. The SCA rate was 28.9% in patients with a score ≥30 compared with 1.6% in patients with a score ≤9 (P for trend <0.001). The area under the curve values were 0.7033 in the internal validation sample and 0.6031 in the external validation sample. Sensitivity and specificity varied between 96.9% and 10.5% for scores ≥10 and between 18.0% and 97.6% for scores ≥30, with scores between 20 and 29 achieving the best sensitivity and specificity (65.4% and 62.6%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: At the early phase of STEMI, the risk of prehospital SCA can be determined through a simple score of 5 routinely assessed predictors. This score might help optimize the dispatching and management of patients with STEMI by emergency medical services.

Longer pre-hospital delays and higher mortality in women with STEMI: the e-MUST Registry.

AIMS: The mortality rate in patients with STEMI is higher in women than in men. This higher mortality rate is partly accounted for by certain known characteristics inherent in the female population (age, diabetes). Using data from the e-MUST registry on STEMI patients in the Greater Paris area, we assessed the differences between men and women treated with reperfusion strategies. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients presenting within 24 hours of pain onset between 2006 and 2010 were included in the study. The male and female subpopulations were compared according to their baseline characteristics, their management delays and their early outcomes. Five thousand eight hundred and forty males (78.9%) and 1,557 females (21.1%) were included in the study. In-hospital mortality was significantly higher in women than in men, 143 (9.4%) vs. 254 (4.4%), p<0.0001, with a longer time to treatment initiation, symptoms to call (2.7±3.6 vs. 2.2±3.4 hours, p<0.0001), symptoms to first medical contact (FMC) (3.1±3.7 vs. 2.6±3.4 hours, p<0.0001), and call to FMC (25.6±23.5 vs. 23.6±18.3 min, p=0.02). After adjustment for clinical factors, severity criteria, myocardial infarction (MI) location and delays, mortality remained higher in women than in men with an odds ratio of 1.40 [1.06-1.84], p=0.017. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated longer pre-hospital delays and higher in-hospital mortality in women. The increase in the time to treatment alone does not completely explain the persistent increase in mortality. Further studies, public awareness programmes and physician education are necessary to reduce delays and improve the prognosis of STEMI in women.

Outcomes of primary percutaneous coronary interventions in nonagenarians with acute myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: Few data are available on primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) in nonagenarians. In a large prospective registry on pPCI for STEMI we compared the demographics, procedural and in-hospital outcomes between nonagenarians (age ≥ 90 years) and patients aged < 90 years. METHODS AND RESULTS: We included 26,157 consecutive patients with pPCI in the Greater Paris Area region between 2003 and 2011. Of these, 418 (1.6%) were ≥ 90 years old. Nonagenarians (versus patients < 90 years) were more likely to be female (62.3% versus 22.5%, p < 0.0001), nonsmokers (81.6% versus 36.7%, p < 0.0001), in cardiogenic shock (Killip IV) upon admission (10.5% versus 4.8%, p < 0.001), and had significant co-morbidities. Over two-thirds of patients underwent procedures via the radial artery (61% versus 72.1%, p = 0.007). Both groups had high and similar angiographic success rates (98.1% versus 98.7%, p = 0.33). Drug-eluting stents were used less often in nonagenarians (4.4% versus 16.7%, p < 0.0001). Hospital mortality was significantly much higher in patients over 90 years old (24.9% versus 5.1%, p < 0.001) in univariate analysis. After adjustment for sex, cardiogenic shock, diabetes, triple vessel disease, drug-eluting stent use and glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors use, mortality remains higher in nonagenarian patients (OR: 4.31; 95% CI: 3.26-5.71, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: In a real-world setting, we found important demographic differences in nonagenarian compared to younger patients. Despite achieving a high rate of reperfusion with pPCI using mainly radial access, similar to that achieved in younger patients, hospital mortality was higher in nonagenarians.

[Evolution since 2002 of the management of patients with ST elevated acute coronary syndrome (STEMI) in Île-de-France. E-MUST survey]. / Augmentation du taux de décision de reperfusion myocardique des patients ayant un syndrome coronaire aigu avec sus-décalage du segment ST. Analyse du registre e-MUST (2002 à 2010) des SAMU/SMUR d'Île-de-France.

INTRODUCTION: ST-segment-elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a therapeutic emergency. Early reperfusion is the key to successful reperfusion. Guidelines recommend organizing regional networks. In France, this starts with a call to a medical dispatch center, the SAMU-centre 15. The aim of this study was to evaluate regional STEMI management using data collected from 2002 to 2010. METHODS: Observational, prospective, multicenter survey. STEMI patient with chest pain lasting for less than 24hours managed by 40 mobile emergency and resuscitation service (SMUR) and 8 emergency medical system (SAMU) from the Greater Paris Area (Île-de-France) were analyzed. Demographic data, cardiovascular risk factors, infarction location, decision of reperfusion and delays were collected. The rate of coronary reperfusion was chosen as the primary endpoint. RESULTS: Eleven thousand five hundred and eighty-eight patients enrolled from 2002 to 2010 were analyzed. Median age was 59.9 (51.0 to 72.9) years; 9080 (78.5%) were men. The number of patients included decreased from 1376 in 2002 to 1119 in 2010. Reperfusion was achieved by fibrinolysis in 2644 (23%) cases and primary angioplasty in 7999 (69%) cases. The rate of decision of coronary reperfusion significantly increased from 86.7% in 2002 to 94.8% in 2010 (P<0.0001). Interaction between the increasing decision of reperfusion and all factors studied (demographics, cardiovascular risk factors, infarct location and delays) was significant only for family history of coronary artery disease (P=0.03). In-hospital mortality was 2.8% (321 cases). CONCLUSION: The number of patients with STEMI managed by the SAMU declined slightly over the past decade. The rate of decision of reperfusion progressively increased up to 95%. Entrance into the network by the SAMU-centre 15 is a guarantee of a wide and early access to the coronary reperfusion.