Crain's Detroit Business (2/28, Greene) reports, "Mortality rates from heart attacks in Southeast Michigan appear to be falling as hospitals have found ways to shorten the 'door to balloon' time between diagnosis of heart attacks and emergency angioplasties." In fact, "most of Southeast Michigan's cardiovascular hospitals have reduced door-to-balloon time to less than 80 minutes, and they have slashed mortality rates to less than 3 percent from as much as eight percent over the past several years, say hospital officials." The article notes that the "National Cardiovascular Data Registry, operated by the American College of Cardiology...collects door-to-balloon time for all patients, including transfers."
Southeast Michigan Emergency Departments Seeing Increase In Heart Attack Patients. Crain's Detroit Business (2/28, Greene) reports, "Cardiologists and emergency physicians at most heart hospitals in Southeast Michigan say there has been an increase over the past year in the number of people arriving at emergency departments with heart attacks, although there are mixed opinions on whether there also is a corresponding increase in emergency angioplasties." Mark Brautigan, MD, chief of emergency medicine at Detroit Medical Center's Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit, "said the number of people arriving at the ER with heart attacks has increased during the past year by several percentage points." He stated, "'Shoveling snow is a big precipitator, but people losing their health insurance and not able to control their medical conditions (hypertension, diabetes and heart failure) is a big reason' for the increase."
Posted by Steven Almany M.D.
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