By Charles Bankhead
MedPage Today
Copright 2008 MedPage Today

OTTAWA, Ontario — Patients with ST-segment myocardial infarction begin percutaneous intervention sooner when paramedics in the field triage them to appropriate hospitals, investigators here found.

Patients referred from the field in this city had a median door-to-balloon time of 69 minutes compared with 103 minutes for patients who needed interhospital transfer (P<0.001), Michel R. Le May, M.D., of the University of Ottawa, and colleagues reported in the Jan. 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Door-to-balloon times of less than 90 minutes were achieved seven times more often among patients transferred from the field. Yet in-hospital, 30-day, and six-month mortality did not differ between patients referred from the field or from a hospital.

Full Story: Primary percutaneous intervention is now considered the optimal reperfusion strategy