Rationale and Study Design of the TSOC-Fully Organized Registry for the Management of Symptomatic ACS Study (T-FORMOSA Study).

BACKGROUND: Successful implementation of practice guidelines has been challenging in the treatment of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), leaving room for improvement. A nationwide registry can provide more information than that recorded in the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD).

METHODS: We conducted a prospective, nationwide, multi-center ACS full spectrum registry involving 3600 patients admitted to hospitals within 24 hours of the onset of myocardial infarction with ST-segment elevation or ACS without ST-segment elevation. In total, 41 sites including medical centers and regional hospitals were selected across Taiwan. The data for each patient are collected at 3 time points for the main study: during hospitalization, 6 months, and 12 months after the discharge. The milestone for first patient in was reached on January 7, 2022, and complete enrollment is expected before October 2023. The primary aims of the main study are to determine the degree of guideline-directed medical therapies and to identify prognostic predictors associated with 1-year composite outcomes, including death, myocardial infarction, stroke, and unplanned coronary revascularization in ACS patients. Thereafter, the patient data will be analyzed every 3 to 5 years for up to 20 years after discharge using the NHIRD in the extended study.

CONCLUSIONS: We hypothesized that a greater increase in the implementation of guideline-directed medical therapies can be observed. The results of the current study will add new and important information regarding a broad spectrum of ACS to drive further investigations.