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(Circulation. 2004;109:e9049.)
© 2004 American Heart Association, Inc.

Cardiovascular News

Ruth SoRelle, MPH

Circulation Newswriter

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

Discharging PCI Patients Early

A special scoring system used to identify patients at low risk of cardiac events after primary percutaneous intervention could save patients time in the hospitals and reduce healthcare costs, said researchers from ISALA Klinieken, Hospital De Weezenlanden, Zwolle, The Netherlands, in a report in this week’s issue of the journal Circulation ( Circulation. 2004;109:2737–2743[Abstract/Free Full Text]).

The prognostic scoring system was developed by the researchers, led by Giuseppe De Luca, MD, of Hospital De Weezenlanden, Zwolle, The Netherlands, on the basis of 30-day mortality rates in 1791 patients who had undergone primary angioplasty for ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction. Predictors of death within 30 days included age, anterior infarction, Killip class, ischemic time, postprocedural Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) flow, and multivessel disease. Using this score, the researchers identified 73.4% of patients as having a low risk. Those with a low risk could be discharged early, with care being shifted to an outpatient setting between 48 and 72 hours. Among those patients considered low risk, the mortality rate was 0.1% at 2 days and 0.2% between 2 and 10 days.

The researchers concluded that the scoring system could aid in clinical decisions while lowering the cost of care delivered to such patients without endangering their lives.

Building Hearts Anew
Houston, Tex—Everything discussed at the recent symposium on "The Implantable Left Ventricular Assist Device: From Concept to Clinical Reality" sponsored by the Texas Heart Institute in Houston, Tex, did not revolve around textured surfaces and titanium construction.

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