Initial Findings From the North American COVID-19 Myocardial Infarction Registry.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted many aspects of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) care, including timely access to primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI).

Objectives: The goal of the NACMI (North American COVID-19 and STEMI) registry is to describe demographic characteristics, management strategies, and outcomes of COVID-19 patients with STEMI.

Methods: A prospective, ongoing observational registry was created under the guidance of 3 cardiology societies.

The Cardiovascular Quality Improvement and Care Innovation Consortium: Inception of a Multicenter Collaborative to Improve Cardiovascular Care.

Despite decades of improvement in the quality and outcomes of cardiovascular care, significant gaps remain. Existing quality improvement strategies are often limited in scope to specific clinical conditions and episodic care. Health services and outcomes research is essential to inform gaps in care but rarely results in the development and implementation of care delivery solutions.

One-year results of the ICON (Ionic versus non-ionic Contrast to Obviate worsening Nephropathy after angioplasty in chronic renal failure patients) Study.

Background: Long-term clinical outcomes after exposure to non-ionic iso-osmolar contrast medium (IOCM) or ionic low-osmolar CM (LOCM) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) undergoing coronary angiography are unclear.

Methods: The ICON trial was a prospective, double-blinded, multicentre study that randomly assigned 146 patients with CKD undergoing coronary angiography with or without percutaneous coronary intervention to the non-ionic IOCM Iodixanol or the ionic LOCM Ioxaglate. We report the 1-year clinical outcomes.

Achieving sustainable first door-to-balloon times of 90 minutes for regional transfer ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

Objectives: A network approach to transfer ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients can achieve durable first door-to-balloon times (1st D2B) for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) within 90 min.

Background: Nationally, a minority of STEMI patients from referral centers obtain 1st D2B in <2 h and even fewer in <90 min.

Methods: Included were transfer STEMI patients from 9 network hospitals treated in 2007 compared with 2008 to 2011 after installing the following initiatives: 1) established hospital referral system; 2) goal-oriented performance protocols; 3) expedited transport by ground or air; 4) first hospital activation of the PCI hospital catheterization laboratory; and 5) outreach coordinator and patient-level web-based feedback to the referring hospital.