Prehospital delay in patients presenting with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction

To characterize prehospital delays in patients presenting with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction to the emergency department of a tertiary hospital in Asia. A retrospective review of 273 patients with diagnosis of ST-elevation myocardial infarction; symptom to door (S2D) time was described in two ways, time from first onset of symptoms; and time from the onset of the worst episode to presentation at emergency department. The median first onset S2D time was 173 min (interquartile range 80-350 min); and median worst episode S2D time was 131 min (interquartile range 70-261 min). Patients with prehospital delay tended to use their own transport compared with the no delay group (P=0.026, 95% confidence interval=0.02-0.24). There was no difference in S2D times for typical compared with atypical symptoms. A large proportion of patients experienced delay in seeking medical care after the onset of acute coronary symptoms. Self-transport was associated with delay. European Journal of Emergency Medicine 18:268-271 (C) 2011 Wolters Kluwer Health vertical bar Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.