Published 20 October 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a2185
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2185

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All myocardial infarction patients in England are to be offered angioplasty

Lynn Eaton

1 London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Angioplasty is to become the treatment of choice in England for people who have a myocardial infarction, the Department of Health has announced, with 97% of patients expected to be having the procedure in specialist heart attack centres by 2011.

Results of a three year study involving 2400 patients treated in 10 hospitals across England show that primary angioplasty is feasible and cost effective.

Provided that the procedure is carried out within two hours of a heart attack, death rates are lower than with thrombolysis, the current standard treatment, and hospital stays are shorter, says a report of the study.

Roger Boyle, England’s clinical director for heart disease and stroke, said that the 30 day mortality rate for thrombolysis is 7%, but this reduces to 5% for angioplasty if it is given within two hours. In some parts of the country, such as London, regional death rates have been reduced . . . [Full text of this article]


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