A trip to the emergency room is bad, and a
heart attack is worse, but combining the two on at night or on a weekend lowers
one’s chances of surviving the episode, according to a new report.
by John
Tyburski
Copyright © Daily
Digest News, KPR Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
A trip to
the emergency room is bad, and a heart attack is worse, but combining the two
on at night or on a weekend lowers one’s chances of surviving the episode,
according to a new report.
More than
250,000 people each year have the worst type of heart attack possible, caused
by complete blockage of blood flow in the heart. Time is of the essence because
blood flow must be restored in order to keep the heart muscle alive.
Researchers
analyzed the treatment and survival records for more than 27,000 patients who
suffered the most severe kind of heart attack and sought medical attention at
hospital emergency rooms after normal business hours. These records were
compared to those of 16,000 patients with the same kind of heart attack who
were treated during regular daytime hours. All patients had their heart attacks
between January 2007 and September 2010 and were treated at one of 447
hospitals across the U.S.
Time of day
and day of week were not factors in several recorded variables, including when
aspirin was given, when imaging tests were done, and when clot-dissolving
medications were given. However, those treated during normal business hours
received angioplasty an average of 16 minutes sooner than those who were
treated outside of these hours.
Angioplasty
involves the insertion of a catheter and deflated balloon on the end into a
blood vessel. The apparatus is then threaded into the heart, and the balloon is
gently inflated to open up the blood vessel, allow the clot to dislodge, and
blood flow to resume. In some cases, a stent, or mesh tube, may be left in
place to keep the blood vessel open.
The report
was published on Tuesday in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality
and Outcomes.
No comments:
Post a Comment