(August 17, 2010 - Insidermedicine) 

The longer the delay between the call to emergency services for a heart attack to the moment the patient receives invasive treatment, the greater the risk of dying, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Here are some typical symptoms of heart attack:

•    Sudden pain that may be in the chest, neck, jaw, shoulder, arms, or back that does not go away with rest

•    Shortness of breath

•    Nausea, indigestion, or vomiting

Researchers from Aarhus University Hospital used Danish medical records to look at whether the delays heart attack patients experience before undergoing invasive treatment known as a percutaneous coronary intervention, or PCI, affects their long-term outcomes. All of the more than 6,000 heart attacks patients included in the study had been transported to hospital by emergency medical services and received PCI within 12 hours of the onset of their symptoms.

The patients were followed up for an average of just over 3 years. A delay of 0 to 60 min from the time emergency services received the call to transport a heart attack patient to the hospital to the time the patient received PCI was associated with a long-term death rate of 15%. The longer the delay, the higher the death rate, such that delays of 61 to 120 were associated with a 23% death rate, delays of 121 to 180 min were linked with a 28% death rate, and delays of 181 to 360 min were linked with a death rate of nearly 31%. Other delays, including the time from the onset of heart attack symptoms to the time that emergency services were called, also increased death rates.

We spoke with Christian Juhl Terkelsen, one of the investigators of this study, who offered some further insight.

Today’s research highlights the importance of treating heart attack patients as quickly as possible. If you have symptoms suggestive of a heart attack, contact emergency services immediately.