VIDEO: Advances in MI treatment highlighted at AHA 2017

ANAHEIM, Calif. — In this Cardiology Today video perspective, Gregg C. Fonarow, MD, FACC, FAHA, FHFSA, discusses two trials presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions that focused on new treatment strategies for patients with MI.

The ACS QUIK study analyzed the effect of a quality improvement toolkit on acute MI among patients hospitalized in India.

“There were improvements that were achieved with the stepped-wedge design that the investigators used, and they did not observe unadjusted improvements in clinical outcomes, but after adjusting for secular trends that overall impact the major adverse CV events and quality of life, there was no real difference,” Fonarow, Eliot Corday Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Science, director of the Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center, co-chief of clinical cardiology, UCLA division of cardiology and co-director of the UCLA Preventative Cardiology Program at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, said. “Nevertheless, these investigators should be applauded for the phenomenal work of trying to do an ambitious, quality improvement program in India.”

Fonarow also discussed results of another late-breaking clinical trial, the STEMI Accelerator-2 program, which focused on a regional approach to improve the care of U.S. patients with STEMI. According to Fonarow, results from the Mission: Lifeline STEMI Accelerator-2 study showed an overall faster time to treatment and a decline in in-hospital mortality.

“We can further improve the care and outcomes for patients with ST segment elevation MI by coordinating that care, make sure it is rapid, reliable and as high quality as possible,” Fonarow said. “Really, every community in the U.S. deserves that.”