Only about 10 percent of patients with a certain type of heart attack who need to be transferred to another hospital for a PCI (procedures such as balloon angioplasty or stent placement used to open narrowed coronary arteries) are transferred within the recommended time of 30 minutes, according to a study in the June 22/29 issue of JAMA (see also Blood Transfusion).
"Primary percutaneous coronary intervention is the preferred method of reperfusion for patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction [STEMI; a certain pattern on an electrocardiogram following a heart attack], yet approximately 75 percent of hospitals in the United States currently do not have acute PCI …

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