Heart Health
Heart attack treatment happening faster
Good news for heart attack victims: hospitals across the country have shaved more than 30 minutes off the time it takes to begin artery-opening angioplasty and stent placement, the best treatment for a heart attack in progress.
Hospitals use a measure called door-to-balloon time (named after the balloon used to open an artery) to track how quickly they can get a patient from his or her arrival at the hospital to the start of angioplasty. In 2005, the median door-to-balloon time was 96 minutes. At the end of 2010, it was 64 minutes (Circulation, Aug. 30, 2011). That's a remarkable improvement, prompted by efforts from the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and other organizations.
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