Drug-eluting stents (DES) have been viewed as a great advance over earlier stents and balloon angioplasty because they result in many fewer cases of restenosis. But enthusiasm for the first generation of DES was somewhat curbed due to reports of late stent thrombosis (ST), a rare but very dangerous complication. Now findings from a large ongoing…
In Emerging China Heart Attacks Skyrocket But Treatment Lags
June 24, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Accompanying all the other changes in China over the past decade, admission to the hospital for heart attacks ST-elevation myocardial infarction, or STEMI) has soared, according to a paper published in the Lancet. Although the study finds that there have been some genuine improvements in treatment, the Chinese healthcare system still has a long way to go in…
New Study Lends Support For Alternative Heart Attack Treatment Strategy
April 22, 2014 by 2 Comments
It is generally agreed that the best treatment for heart attack patients is to immediately reperfuse the blocked artery with a stent. But many people live in areas where this strategy, known as primary PCI, is not available within the time frame when it produces the greatest benefit. Previous studies have found good short term…
Instagram for Heart Attacks: iPhone App Speeds ECG Transmission To Hospital
May 17, 2013 by Leave a Comment
In the crucial early stages of a possible heart attack, EMTs on the scene now rely on slow and unreliable proprietary technology to transmit vital ECG data to physicians at a hospital for evaluation. But a new iPhone app using standard cell phone networks may help speed the process and, ultimately, cut delays in treatment…
Fibrinolysis May Benefit Late-Arriving STEMI Patients
March 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Although primary PCI has emerged as the best treatment for STEMI, most patients don’t receive this treatment within the early time frame when it is known to be most beneficial. Delay in presentation is one important factor. Another is that most patients don’t arrive at a PCI-capable hospital and cannot be transferred fast enough to a…
New Guidelines Define State-of-the-Art STEMI Care
December 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment
New guidelines published online today in Circulation and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology provide an efficient overview of the best treatments for STEMI patients. (Click here to download the PDFs of the full version (64 pages) or the executive summary (27 pages) of the 2013 ACCF/AHA Guideline for the Management of ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction.) “We’re looking to a future where more…
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