Alfredo Piombo, Florencia Rolandi, Marío Fitz Maurice, Simón Salzberg, Marcelo Strumminger, Horacio Zylbersztejn, Edgardo Rubio, Elisabet Ulmete, Pascual Di Pietro, Jorge Mitelman
BackgroundThe prognosis of patients with acute myocardial infarction does not seem to have improved in our country during the last decades according to the last surveys of the Argentine Society of Cardiology. Indicators of quality have been elaborated as part of an initiative to reduce the gap between practical management and theoretical recommendations about how to treat these patients. ObjectiveTo document the quality of current medical practice in the management of acute myocardial infarction in public hospitals depending on the Government of the City of Buenos Aires. Material and Methods We included a prospective cohort of 145patients with acute myocardial infarction and indication of reperfusion therapy. ResultsMost patients underwent reperfusion treatment with angioplasty or thrombolytic agents. The use of drugs of proven efficacy was almost 90%. The proportion of patients treated with thrombolytic agents within the recommended time intervals was 30%, similar to those of patients admitted to centers with catheterization laboratory facilities and treated with primary angioplasty. In patients transferred to hospitals for primary angioplasty, door-to-balloon time was <90 minutes in less than 3% of patients. ConclusionsThese results suggest that quality of medical care for patients with myocardial infarction is adequate, yet there are still delays in the implementation of reperfusion therapy, either thrombolysis or invasive reperfusion techniques.