Time Delay to Treatment and Mortality in Primary Angioplasty for Acute Myocardial Infarction

BACKGROUND: Although the relationship between mortality and time delay to treatment has been demonstrated in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated by thrombolysis, the impact of time delay on prognosis in patients undergoing primary angioplasty has yet to be clarified. The aim of this report was to address the relationship between time to treatment and mortality as a continuous function and to estimate the risk of mortality for each 30-minute delay. METHODS AND RESULTS: The study population consisted of 1791 patients with STEMI treated by primary angioplasty. The relationship between ischemic time and 1-year mortality was assessed as a continuous function and plotted…