It does not matter to the time

    

    

Doctors newspaper online, 24.08.2019

    

        
        
        

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Heart attack

When treating heart attack patients, doctors probably do not have to take into account the time at which the infarction occurred.

MUNICH. Whether a heart attack occurs in the middle of the night or in broad daylight does not determine how severe its consequences are. The scientists of the German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) at the German Heart Center Munich ( Journal Transl Med 2019; 17: 180 ) report.

Previous studies on whether the time of day affects infarct size and survival rate have been contradictory, the DZHK said in a statement.

In their retrospective study of around 1,200 patients, the scientists studied under private lecturer Dr. med. Hendrik Sager the time at which the infarction occurred and whether this affected the consequences of the infarction. In all cases, ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) was present and a closed coronary vessel.

Different time windows

Sager and his team initially divided the patients into four different time windows, depending on when the symptoms of STEMI had occurred: 0 to 6, 6 to 12, 12 to 18, and 18 to 24.

All patients had received a single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), followed by primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI).

SPECT was repeated in all participants 7-14 days after the PPCI to assess which areas of the previously non-perfused myocardium could be rescued by reopening the occluded coronary artery.

Factors were excluded

In addition, Sager and colleagues included in the study how many of the patients were still alive after five years. This allowed them to draw conclusions as to whether the time of day a heart attack occurred changed the long-term prognosis.

"Of course, there are many factors that determine how severe a heart attack is," Sager is quoted in the message. "About how long it takes for the vessel to reopen or which of the three coronary arteries is closed. We have calculated out these factors. "

The conclusion of the scientists concludes: It does not depend on the time of day, how a heart attack has a long-term effect. (eb / bae)

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