Annals of Emergency Medicine
Volume 55, Issue 5 , Pages 423-430 , May 2010

An Evaluation of the Accuracy of Emergency Physician Activation of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory for Patients With Suspected ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction

  • Michael C. Kontos, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, Richmond, VA
    • Department of Emergency Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, Richmond, VA
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress for correspondence: Michael C. Kontos, MD, Room 285 Gateway Building, Second Floor, PO Box 980051, 1200 E Marshall St, Richmond, VA 23298-0051; 804-828-9989, fax 804-828-3544
    • ,
  • Michael Christopher Kurz, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Emergency Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, Richmond, VA
    • ,
  • Charlotte S. Roberts, MSN

      Affiliations

    • Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, Richmond, VA
    • ,
  • Sarah E. Joyner, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, Richmond, VA
    • ,
  • Laura Kreisa, BSN

      Affiliations

    • Office of Performance Improvement, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, Richmond, VA
    • ,
  • Joseph P. Ornato, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Emergency Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, Richmond, VA
    • ,
  • George W. Vetrovec, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, Richmond, VA

Received 17 January 2009 ,Revised 30 June 2009 ,Accepted 6 August 2009.

References 

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  2. Douglas PS, Eckel RH, Gray DT, et al. Coming together to achieve quality cardiovascular care. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2006;47:266–267
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  4. Kurz MC, Babcock C, Sinha S, et al. The impact of emergency physician-initiated primary percutaneous coronary intervention on mean door-to-balloon time in patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction. Ann Emerg Med. 2007;50:527–534
  5. Larson DM, Menssen KM, Sharkey SW, et al. “False-positive” cardiac catheterization laboratory activation among patients with suspected ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. JAMA. 2007;298:2754–2760
  6. Chia S, Senatore F, Raffel OC, et al. Utility of cardiac biomarkers in predicting infarct size, left ventricular function, and clinical outcome after primary percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. JACC Cardiovasc Interv. 2008;1:415–423
  7. Khot UN, Johnson ML, Ramsey C, et al. Emergency department physician activation of the catheterization laboratory and immediate transfer to an immediately available catheterization laboratory reduce door-to-balloon time in ST-elevation myocardial infarction. Circulation. 2007;116:67–76
  8. Henry TD, Sharkey SW, Burke MN, et al. A regional system to provide timely access to percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-elevation myocardial infarction. Circulation. 2007;116:721–728
  9. Kraft PL, Newman S, Hanson D, et al. Emergency physician discretion to activate the cardiac catheterization team decreases door-to-balloon time for acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction. Ann Emerg Med. 2007;50:520–526
  10. Singer AJ, Shembekar A, Visram F, et al. Emergency department activation of an interventional cardiology team reduces door-to-balloon times in ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction. Ann Emerg Med. 2007;50:538–544
  11. Brady WJ, Syverud SA, Beagle C, et al. Electrocardiographic ST-segment elevation: the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction by morphologic analysis of the ST segment. Acad Emerg Med. 2001;8:961–967
  12. Brady WJ, Perron AD, Ullman EA, et al. Electrocardiographic ST segment elevation: a comparison of AMI and non-AMI ECG syndromes. Am J Emerg Med. 2002;20:609–612
  13. Brady WJ, Perron AD, Chan T. Electrocardiographic ST-segment elevation: correct identification of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and non-AMI syndromes by emergency physicians. Acad Emerg Med. 2001;8:349–360
  14. Wang K, Asinger RW, Marriott HJ. ST-segment elevation in conditions other than acute myocardial infarction. N Engl J Med. 2003;349:2128–2135
  15. Kontos MC, McQueen MJ, Jesse RL, et al. Can myocardial infarction be rapidly identified in emergency department patients who have left bundle-branch block?. Ann Emerg Med. 2001;37:431–438
  16. Sgarbossa EB, Pinski SL, Barbagelata A, et al. Electrocardiographic diagnosis of evolving acute myocardial infarction in the presence of left bundle-branch block (GUSTO-1 (Global Utilization of Streptokinase and Tissue Plasminogen Activator for Occluded Coronary Arteries) Investigators). N Engl J Med. 1996;334:481–487
  17. Aguirre FV, Varghese JJ, Kelley MP, et al. Rural interhospital transfer of ST-elevation myocardial infarction patients for percutaneous coronary revascularization (The Stat Heart Program). Circulation. 2008;117:1145–1152
  18. Ting HH, Rihal CS, Gersh BJ, et al. Regional systems of care to optimize timeliness of reperfusion therapy for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (The Mayo Clinic STEMI Protocol). Circulation. 2007;116:729–736

 Supervising editor: Deborah B. Diercks, MD

 Author contributions: M. C. Kontos concieved of the study and wrote the initial article. M. C. Kontos, M. C. Kurz, CSR, SEJ, LK, and JPO assisted in data collection. M. C. Kontos, M. C. Kurz, CSR, SEJ, LK, JPO, and GWV assisted in data analysis and contributed to the revisions. M. C. Kontos takes responsibility for the paper as a whole.

 Funding and support: By Annals policy, all authors are required to disclose any and all commercial, financial, and other relationships in any way related to the subject of this article that might create any potential conflict of interest. The authors have stated that no such relationships exist. See the Manuscript Submission Agreement in this issue for examples of specific conflicts covered by this statement.

 Earn CME Credit: Continuing Medical Education is available for this article at: http://www.ACEP-EMedHome.com.

 Reprints not available from the authors.

 Publication date: Available online September 20, 2009.

 Provide feedback on this article at the journal's Web site, www.annemergmed.com.

 Please see page 424 for the Editor's Capsule Summary of this article.

PII: S0196-0644(09)01437-1

doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2009.08.011

Annals of Emergency Medicine
Volume 55, Issue 5 , Pages 423-430 , May 2010

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