Care of patients with ST-Elevation MI: an international analysis of Quality Indicators in the Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) STEMI Registry of the EURObservational Research Programme (EORP) and ACVC and EAPCI Associations of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) in 11,462 patients

To use Quality Indicators to study the management of ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in different regions.Prospective cohort study of STEMI within 24 hours of symptom onset (11,462 patients, 196 centres, 26 ESC member and 3 affiliated countries). The median delay between arrival at a PCI centre and primary PCI was 40 min (IQR 20 to 74) with 65.8% receiving PCI within guideline recommendation of 60 min. A third of patients (33.2%) required transfer from their initial hospital to one that could perform emergency PCI for whom only 27.2% were treated within the quality indicator recommendation of 120 mins. Radial access was used in 56.6% of all primary PCI, but with large geographic variation, from 76.4% to 9.1%. Statins were prescribed at discharge to 98.7% of patients, with little geographic variation. Of patients with a history of heart failure or a documented LVEF ≤40%, 84.0% were discharged on an ACEI/ARB and 88.7% were discharged on beta blockers.Care for STEMI shows wide geographic variation in the receipt of timely primary PCI, and is in contrast with the more uniform delivery of guideline-recommended pharmacotherapies at time of hospital discharge.