Twelve-Year History of STEMI Management in Tehran Heart Center: Concomitant Reduction of In-Hospital Mortality and Hospitalization Length

Cardiovascular-related death remains the major cause of mortality in Iran despite significant improvements in its care. In the present study, we report the in-hospital mortality, hospitalization length, and treatment methods for patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in Tehran Heart Center (THC).

Records pertaining to patients with STEMI from March 2006 to March 2017 were extracted from the databases of THC. Besides a description of temporal trends, multivariable regression analysis was used to find factors associated with in-hospital mortality.

During the study period, 8,295 patients were admitted with STEMI with a mean age of 60.4 ± 12.5 years. Men accounted for 77.5% of the study population. Hospitalization length declined from 8.4 to 5.2 days, and in-hospital mortality was reduced from 8.0% to 3.9% (both P values < 0.001). In a multivariable model adjusted for age, sex, conventional cardiac risk factors, prior cardiac history, and indices of event severity, primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (OR: 0.280, 95% CI: 0.186 to 0.512; P<0.001), coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery (OR: 0.482, 95% CI: 0.220 to 0.903; P=0.025), and rescue or facilitated PCI (OR: 0.420, 95% CI: 0.071 to 0.812; P=0.001) were all associated with reduced in-hospital mortality in comparison with medical treatment. Furthermore, primary PCI was a crucial protective factor against prolonged length of hospital stay (OR: 0.307, 95% CI: 0.266 to 0.594; P<0.001).

In-hospital mortality and hospitalization length were almost halved during the study period, and primary PCI has now replaced thrombolysis in the management of STEMI.