Knock on the right door. How we are treating the patient with acute myocardial infarction / Bata na porta certa. Como estamos tratando o paciente com infarto agudo do miocárdio

Background: To reduce mortality of acute myocardial infarction, medical care must be provided within the first hours of the event. Objective: To identify the "front door" to medical care of acute coronary patients and the time elapsed between patients'admission and performance of myocardial reperfusion in the public health system of the city of Joinville, Brazil. Methods: The study was a retrospective analysis of the medical records of 112 consecutive patients diagnosed with acute myocardial infarction by coronary angiography. We identified the place of the first medical contact and calculated the time between admission to this place and admission to the referral hospital, as well as the time until coronary angiography, with or without percutaneous transluminal angioplasty. A descriptive analysis of data was made using mean and standard deviation, and a p < 0.05 was set as statistically significant. Results: Only 16 (14.3%) patients were admitted through the cardiology referral unit. Door-to-angiography time was shorter than 90 minutes in 50 (44.2%) patients and longer than 270 minutes in 39 (34.5%) patients. No statistically significant difference was observed in door-to-angiography time between patients transported directly to the referral hospital and those transferred from other health units (p < 0.240). Considering the time between pain onset and angiography, only 3 (2.9%) patients may have benefited from myocardial reperfusion performed within less than 240 minutes. Conclusion: Management of patients with acute myocardial infarction is not in conformity with current guidelines for the treatment of this condition. The structure of the healthcare system should be urgently modified so that users in need of emergency services receive adequate care in accordance with local conditions

Avaliação do atendimento médico na fase aguda do infarto do miocárdio em centro de referência em cardiologia / Evalution of the medical attendance in the acute phase of myocardial infarction in a cardiology reference center

Introdução: Apesar da evolução em relação às opções terapêuticas no infarto agudo do miocárdio (IAM) e do advento de unidades coronarianas, percebe-se que os índices de mortalidade desse evento permanecem substancialmente elevados e com isso, questiona-se o fato de muitos pacientes com IAM não estarem recebendo de maneira integral o tratamento preconizado. Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar, em um centro de referência em cardiologia, se medidas recomendadas no atendimento inicial do IAM estão sendo realizadas. Métodos: Foi realizado um estudo observacional, no período de fevereiro de 2009 a novembro de 2009, no Hospital Regional Hans Dieter Schmidt / Joinville - SC, onde foram incluídos os pacientes com diagnóstico de IAM e indicação de angioplastia primária, observando-se quais medicações foram empregadas na fase aguda, além de exames complementares e o tempo necessário para realizar o diagnóstico de IAM com necessidade de reperfusão coronariana. Resultados: Uma amostra de 83 pacientes foi reunida, sendo que 80,72% fizeram uso de AAS e 54,22% de betabloqueadores. Não houve diferença estatisticamente significativa entre as prescrições nas diferentes faixas etárias. Radiografia do tórax foi solicitada em 43,37% e nenhum paciente realizou ecocardiograma. Do total, 23 pacientes (27,71%) tiveram tempo porta-diagnóstico abaixo de 10 minutos, sem diferença significativa quando comparado por sexos. Conclusões: Quando comparado com dados da literatura, nosso estudo mostrou que medicações que comprovadamente aumentam a sobrevida de pacientes com IAM estão sendo subutilizadas. Além disso, houve demora em realizar a indicação de angioplastia primária como recomendado pelas principais diretrizes.

Introduction: Despite the evolution in therapeutic options in acute myocardial infarction and the advent of Coronary Units, one can notice that the mortality rates of this event remains substantially high, and by that, it is questioned the fact of many patients with AMI are not receiving the full praised treatment. This paper had as goal to asses, in a Cardiology Reference Center, if the recommended treatments in the initial attendance of AMI are being fulfilled. Methods: An observational study was carried through, in the period of February/2009 to November/2009 in Hans Dieter Schmidt regional Hospital/ Joinville-SC, where patients diagnosed with AMI and primary angioplasty indication were included, observing which medications were prescribed, which ancillary tests were requested and time necessary to diagnose a AMI with coronary reperfusion treatment indication Results: A sample of 83 patients was selected, of whom 80,72% received Aspirin and 54,22% received betablockers. There was no meaningful statistic difference in prescriptions between different age groups. Chest radiographs was requested in 43,37% and in none patients a Echocardiogram was performed. In 23 patients (27,71%), less than 10 minutes were necessary between arrival in the Emergency Department to diagnosis, without statistic differences between sex groups. Conclusions : Compared to available data, this study showed that increasing survival proven drugs in AMI are misused. Besides, there were a delay in time of performing primary angioplasty indication as recommended by the main guidelines.