Heart attack patients not getting treatment

By Robert Cervin, May 4th, 2013 | Health | 0 Comments

A study shows that many patients who’ve had a heart attack are not offered treatment to restore blood flow to the heart.
The survival benefits of reperfusion therapy after a heart attack are now well known. Either clotbusting drugs, or angioplasty, can be used to restore the blood flow to the heart (reperfusion). Yet these life-saving therapies are not routinely offered to all patients after heart attack, according to a new analysis from researchers at the University of Michigan.

They have studied over 9,000 patients around the world, all admitted to hospital after an acute heart attack. As many as 30 per cent were not given reperfusion therapy. Those over 75, or who had diabetes, heart or a history of heart attack were among those less likely to be given reperfusion. But there’s not necessarily any clinical justification for excluding all these people. The researchers say that those caring for patients after a heart attack should do more to ensure that live-saving therapies are used in every eligible case.