Emerging primary percutaneous coronary intervention as the dominant reperfusion strategy for myocardial infarction in Europe
2005
Abstract
Randomized trials have confirmed the superiority of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (p-PCI) over thrombolysis as the reperfusion therapy for ST-elevation myocardial infarction. The Czech Republic, where two of these trials were performed, developed a network of PCI centers and satellite hospitals throughout the country, enabling 93% of the reperfusion therapy to be p-PCI in 2003, with thrombolysis accounting for only 7%.
In other European countries, however, the p-PCI-to-thrombolysis ratio largely varies between 80:20 and 1:99. In this article, the infrastructure and logistics of the achievement in the Czech Republic are described.