In-Hospital Tele-ECG Triage and Interventional Cardiologist Activation of the Infarct Team for STEMI Patients is Associated with Improved Late Clinical Outcomes

Application of remote electrocardiogram monitoring systems in chest pain centers for patients with high-risk chest pain

BACKGROUND

Chinese chest pain centers (CPCs) have been expanding and maturing for the past decade, but patient wait times for pre-hospital care remain long.

OBJECTIVE

To demonstrate that the remote electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring system can ensure more efficient treatment for patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in CPCs, we compared patients with high-risk chest pain who used remote ECG monitoring systems to those who used conventional ECGs in retrospective cohort study.

METHODS

Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 290 patients who visited our CPC between June 2019 and March 2022 with acute chest pain and a diagnosis of STEMI as well as patients who had undergone an emergency primary percutaneous coronary intervention were selected. Among them, 73 patients with STEMI had employed remote real-time dynamic 12-lead ECG monitoring devices, while 217 patients with STEMI (i.e., the controls) had used conventional ECG monitoring. The effectiveness of treatment procedures for the two groups was investigated. As statistical measures, the symptom onset-to-wire times, first medical contact (FMC)-to-wire times, door-to-wire times, major adverse cardiac events in hospital, and the troponin T levels were analyzed.

RESULTS

Compared with the control group, the patients with remote real-time dynamic 12-lead ECG monitoring devices showed shorter times for both symptom onset-to-wire (234.8 ± 95.8 min vs. 317.6 ± 129.6 min, P= 0.0321) and from symptom onset-to-FMC (170.5 ± 86.3 min vs. 245.3 ± 115.6 min, P= 0.0287); this group also had a lower 30-day mortality rate (2.73% vs. 4.14%, P= 0.003). The differences between the two groups were statistically significant (P< 0.05).

CONCLUSION

With remote real-time dynamic 12-lead ECG monitoring equipment, myocardial ischemia can be treated more quickly, leading to fewer possible cardiac events and a better prognosis.

The Difference on Features of Fragmented QRS Complex and Influences on Mortality in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome

Objectives

To investigate whether the fragmented QRS (fQRS) complexes can be used to distinguish patients with early non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) from those with unstable angina (UA).

Background

fQRS complex has been found to be linked to myocardial infarction and cardiac death.

Methods

The clinical data of 302 patients who had been diagnosed with coronary artery disease were retrospectively reviewed. Incidence of fQRS complex within 48 h of presentation was analyzed and patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) (n = 240) were followed up by telephone interviews for a mean of 61.47 (range, 59.60-63.35) months.

Results

Patients with NSTEMI exhibited higher incidence of fQRS than those with UA (p = 0.047). The incidence of fQRS in the inferior wall leads was significantly higher than that of other leads in patients with anterior wall infarction (p < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed a higher mortality rate in AMI patients with fQRS compared to non-fQRS patients (p = 0.001).

Conclusions

Presence of fQRS complexes within 48 hours of presentation may be used to differentiate NSTEMI patients from UA patients. fQRS may also be used as a survival predictor for patients with AMI.