Previous reports indicate that patients who do not develop Q waves after thrombolytic therapy are a different population with a better long-term survival than those who do develop Q waves. However, the use of resource...
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Previous reports indicate that patients who do not develop Q waves after thrombolytic therapy are a different population with a better long-term survival than those who do develop Q waves. However, the use of resources, quality of life, and health status of this population have not been fully evaluated. Using data from the Economics and Quality of Life subset of the Global Utilization of Streptokinase and tPA for Occluded Arteries study, we examined 30-day and 1-year mortality, use of resources, and quality-of-life measures among 1,830 of 3,000 patients with acute myocardial infarction and ST-segment elevation treated with thrombolytic therapy. At hospital discharge, 555 patients (30.2%) had not developed Q waves. These patients had lower mortality than patients with Q waves at 30 days (1.6% vs 4.5%, p <0.01) and at 1 year (4.7% vs 6.8%, p <0.04). Recurrent chest pain and dyspnea were similar at 30 days and 1 year. Patients without Q waves had significantly more angiography and trends coward higher readmission, revascularization, and use of calcium antagonists at 30 days. Angiography, revascularization, readmission, and quality of life were equivalent from 30 days to 1 year, with no sign of late instability. Logistic regression analysis showed an association between in-hospital revascularization and better survival and quality of life at 1 year. Conversely, there was no association between in-hospital use of calcium antagonists and outcome to explain the lower mortality in non-Q-wave patients. The absence of Q waves after thrombolytic therapy is a marker of success, implying better prognosis and equivalent quality of life, use of resources, and health status than for patients with Q-wave acute myocardial infarction and no sign of long-term unstable clinical course. (C) 2000 by Excerpta Medica, Inc.
Objective: To explain why those who live some distance from tertiary cardiac centres make less use of coronary angiography and revascularisation than those who live close by, and why people living in particular wards ...
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Objective: To explain why those who live some distance from tertiary cardiac centres make less use of coronary angiography and revascularisation than those who live close by, and why people living in particular wards within certain districts make less use of services than might be expected from their level of need. Method: Semi-structured interviews with 24 general practitioners (GPs) in two English health districts (Morecambe Bay and East Lancashire), five general physicians working in district general hospitals, and four interventional cardiologists working in tertiary centres. Transcripts of audiotape recording were analysed using the constant comparative method. Results: Those living far from tertiary centres are usually referred to general physicians before they are referred for angiography. The general physicians tend to be more conservative in their approach to treatment than interventional cardiologists. GPs working near tertiary centres are able to refer directly to interventional cardiologists. There are also logistical and economic reasons for inequitable use of services. Some GPs perceived that patients of South Asian descent undergo fewer investigations than might be expected because of communication or other difficulties. Conclusion: Use of cardiac services would be more equitable if there were interventional cardiologists based in district general hospitals who could perform angiograms for their own patients in the tertiary centres. Patients might also benefit if angiogams could be conducted in selected district general hospitals. Further qualitative research, involving both doctors and patients, is needed to explore other reasons for relatively low rates of investigation and revascularisation in certain groups of patients.
In this article we have outlined the current rationale and role of invasive management in ACS. For the majority of patients with ACS, who are either at high risk or unstable, invasive management is a critical element ...
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In this article we have outlined the current rationale and role of invasive management in ACS. For the majority of patients with ACS, who are either at high risk or unstable, invasive management is a critical element in breaking the sequence of recurrent ischemia leading to early cardiac events (Fig. 11). Secular trends in the care of cardiovascular patients predict even more sophisticated, invasive methods of treating coronary occlusion in the future. A futurist's view on this subject may envision the following type of scenario. A patient with prior CAD experiences persistent chest pain and notifies the emergency medical system. The paramedics arrive, and perform a rapid fingerstick cardiac biomarker panel and ECG. The results are interpreted by an emergency physician via a telecommunication system, and the patient is determined to be at high risk. He or she is triaged to a center capable of angioplasty and bypass surgery. On the way to the hospital, the patient is treated with aspirin, IV heparin, and an IV glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor. The patient undergoes triage angiography within 1 hour of hospital arrival, culprit lesion(s) are identified, and a revascularization plan is made - setting a critical pathway that is definitive. This vision is not far off on the horizon. We anticipate additional clinical trial results will help form the decision points in this optimal treatment scenario, which for a large proportion of patients will involve invasive management.
Objectives: Utilization rates of coronary angiography and cardiac revascularization have been found to vary between areas. This study addresses the relationship between resource supply and procedure rates. Methods: We...
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Objectives: Utilization rates of coronary angiography and cardiac revascularization have been found to vary between areas. This study addresses the relationship between resource supply and procedure rates. Methods: We compared the association of per capita catheterization laboratories, per capita cardiologists and multi-provider markets (where more than one hospital offers coronary angiography services) with the utilization rates for angiography and cardiac revascularization in northern New England, USA. Administrative data were used to capture invasive cardiac procedures. Small area analyses were used to create coronary angiography service areas. Linear regression methods were used to measure associations between the resource supply and utilization rates. Results: Variation in the use of invasive cardiac procedures was strongly associated with the population-based availability of catheterization facilities and multi-provider markets and unrelated to cardiologist supply or need (as reflected in the hospitalization rates for myocardial infarction). In the multivariate model, an increase of 1 catheterization laboratory per 100,000 population was associated with an increase in the angiography rate of 1.62 per 1000 population;those service areas with multi-provider markets were associated with an additional increase in the angiography rate of 1.27 per 1000 population (R2 = 0.84, P = 0.0006). There was a moderately strong relationship between the catheterization laboratories per capita and the revascularization rates (R2 = 0.43, P = 0.029). Angiography rates were highly associated with cardiac revascularization rates: an increase in the angiography rate of 1 per 1000 population was associated with a 0.46 per 1000 increase in the cardiac revascularization rate (R2 = 0.85, P= 0.0001). Conclusions: Our work suggests that current efforts to address variation in cardiac procedures through activities such as appropriateness criteria, guidelines
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