Transferring patients for primary angioplasty in eastern Melbourne (the SHIPEM registry): are we meeting the guidelines?

OBJECTIVES: To compare clinical outcomes between patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) presenting to a hospital with facilities for primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and patients transferred from a non-PCI-capable unit, and to determine the success rate of meeting clinical guidelines for management of STEMI.

DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Prospective study of patients with STEMI who underwent PCI at Box Hill Hospital (BHH), Melbourne, between 1 July 2002 and 30 June 2008. We compared two patient groups: "BHH patients", who were admitted directly to BHH (a hospital with PCI capability), and "SHIPEM (Shipping Infarcts for Primary Angioplasty in Eastern Melbourne Registry) patients", who were transferred from other hospitals without PCI capability.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Clinical outcomes; symptom-to-first-door time (time between symptom onset and arrival at first hospital); first-door-to-balloon time (time between arrival at the first hospital and inflation of the angioplasty balloon); compliance with Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand/National Heart Foundation of Australia (CSANZ/NHFA) guidelines for management of patients with STEMI.

RESULTS: There were 598 patients in the BHH group and 189 in the SHIPEM group. The median first-door-to-balloon time was 89 minutes (interquartile range [IQR], 69-107 minutes) for BHH patients and 128 minutes (IQR, 104-157 minutes) for SHIPEM patients. These figures did not vary significantly over the 6 years of the registry. In the BHH group, 180 patients (30.1%) had a symptom-to-first-door time of < or = 60 minutes, with 32 (17.8%) receiving PCI in < or = 60 minutes. The corresponding figure for the SHIPEM group was 48 patients (25.4%), with 1 (2.1%) receiving PCI within 60 minutes. In the BHH group, 304 patients (50.8%) had a symptom-to-first-door time of 61-180 minutes, with 166 (54.6%) receiving PCI in < or = 90 minutes. In the SHIPEM group, 50 patients (26.5%) had a symptom-to-first-door time of > 180 minutes, with 21 (42.0%) receiving PCI in < or = 120 minutes.

CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that transfer for PCI is feasible and safe in selected patients, with outcomes comparable to those of patients presenting to a PCI-capable unit. However, the CSANZ/NHFA targets, predicated by symptom-to-first-door time, are not being met and have not improved over time, which suggests that strategies to improve symptom-to-first-door, first-door-to-balloon and transfer times need to be addressed.