The Role of Pre-Hospital Telecardiology in Reducing the Coronary Reperfusion Time; a Brief Report

Objective: The determination of pre-hospital triage based on electrocardiogram and telecardiology in shortening the initial angioplasty time in patients with ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated with PCI. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2015 to January 2018 in six hospitals equipped with 24-hour angioplasty facilities in Tehran, Iran. Patients referred to the hospital with a diagnosis of STEMI by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and undergoing primary angioplasty in the equipped centers were included. Patients were divided into two groups: 1) Patients who were transferred to Cath Lab after electrocardiography (ECG) and telecardiology by EMS (EMS247 group); 2) Patients who did not have ECG and telecardiology in the ambulance and were transferred to the emergency department. Results: A total of 1205 people with the mean age of 58.99 ± 12.33 years (19-95 years) entered the study of whom 996 (82.65%) were male. Of these, 841 (69.8%) patients were transmitted via EMS, who have a 12-lead ECG carried out in the ambulance and after consultation with the cardiologist emphasizing the need for direct transmission to the angioplasty for PPCI. In the study, time interval of Symptom-to-device in the EMS247 group was less than the EMS routine group (P = 0.001). There was a similar finding about the time interval of First medical contact (FMC) to device. Mean differences of interval time in two groups were 100.4 and 22.5 min for symptom-to-Device and FMC-to-Device, respectively. Conclusions: It is likely that the use of telecardiology in prehospital triage plays an important role in reducing time of PPCI for patients with acute myocardial infarction with ST segment elevation