Temporal Trends in Reperfusion Delivery and Clinical Outcomes Following Implementation of a Regional STEMI Protocol:...

The Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) program aimed to increase access to primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) and reduce first-medical-contact-to-device times (FMC-DTs). We evaluated the long-term program impact on PPCI access and FMC-DT, and overall and reperfusion-specific in-hospital mortality.

We analyzed all VCH STEMI patients between June 2007 and November 2019. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients receiving PPCI over 4 program implementation phases over 12 years. We also evaluated overall changes in median FMC-DT and the proportion of patients achieving guideline-mandated FMC-DT, in addition to overall and reperfusion-specific in-hospital mortality.

A total of 3138 of 4305 VCH STEMI patients were treated with PPCI. PPCI rates increased from 40.2% to 78.7% from 2007 to 2019 (P < 0.001). From phase 1 to 4, median FMC-DT improved from 118 to 93 minutes (percutaneous coronary intervention [PCI]-capable hospitals, P < 0.001) and from 174 to 118 minutes (non-PCI-capable hospitals, P < 0.001), with a concomitant increase in those achieving guideline-mandated FMC-DT (35.5% to 66.1%, P < 0.001). Overall in-hospital mortality was 9.0% (P = 0.20 across phases), with mortality differing significantly by reperfusion strategy (4.0% fibrinolysis, 5.7% PPCI, 30.6% no reperfusion therapy, P < 0.001). Mortality significantly decreased from phase 1 to phase 4 at non-PCI-capable centres (9.6% to 3.9%, P = 0.022) but not at PCI-capable centres (8.7% vs 9.9%, P = 0.27).

A regional STEMI program increased the proportion of patients who received PPCI and improved reperfusion times over 12 years. Although no statistically significant decrease occurred in overall regional mortality incidence, mortality incidence was decreased for patients presenting to non-PCI-capable centres.