Heart Attacks Now Treated Much Faster

An encouraging new study shows that hospitals are now treating major heart attacks within 90 minutes of arrival, the time recommended by experts.

Heart attacks occur when clogged arteries prevent blood and oxygen from reaching the heart. A major heart attack -- one that involves a major artery -- affects 250,000 Americans annually and 3 million people worldwide. The preferred remedy is an angioplasty, which is the insertion of a tube into the artery. A balloon at the end of the tube is then inflated to flatten what clogs the artery and a stent or mesh is placed to prop the artery open thereafter. The amount of time it takes from hospital arrival to the angioplasty procedure is known as "door-to-balloon" time, and is recommended to be no longer than 90 minutes. A delay of a half hour raises the risk of death by 42%.

In 2005, the median door-to-balloon time was 96 minutes. Last year, the median time was cut to 64 minutes, according to a study published this week in the American Heart Association's journal, Circulation. These figures mean that fewer than half the heart attack patients five years ago had their arteries unclogged within the time it takes for almost all patients today.

Newsday tells several anecdotes about "warp speed" operating rooms, particularly the one at Yale-New Haven Hospital, which took one patient last month within 16 minutes and another last week within 26 minutes. Doctors thank research, which pointed to the importance of shorter waiting times, as the major reason for this sea of change in emergency room procedures.

It is encouraging to learn that hospitals recognize the need for speed when treating patients with life-threatening cardiac illnesses.

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