New procedure tranforming heart care - conference
Fri April 10th, 2009
By Jane Collingwood
Heart attack services need to be reconfigured because of the the dramatic
rise in the use of a life-saving procedure, a major European conference
has heard.
Primary angioplasty surgery, also known as primary percutaneous coronary intervention, involves a fine catheter being passed from an artery in the leg or arm into the blocked heart artery, under local anaesthetic. An inflatable balloon is then passed through the catheter, and inflated to reopen the artery.
Guidelines in both Europe and the US describe it as the "gold standard" for patients with a type of heart attack called ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).
Professor Tom Quinn of Surrey University, UK, believes that the procedure is having a major impact on nurses and allied health professionals.
"More and more centres in Europe are offering primary angioplasty for STEMI with the result we're now entering a totally new era for treating heart attacks," he says. "We need to start thinking through the ways we are going to manage this revolutionary change, learning from the experience of countries, such as the Czech Republic, where it has been widely available for several years."
For example, healthcare planners and purchasers must be kept well-informed so they "understand the evidence base for both health gains to patients and cost effectiveness", Professor Quinn says. "Education will also be needed for emergency staff, paramedics and the public."
He adds that emergency department nurses are likely to play a major role in navigating STEMI patients through the system, and cardiac rehabilitation nurses will need to make sure patients can access support after the acute event.
Professor Quinn is due to speak at a meeting of cardiovascular experts later this month.
The 9th Annual Spring Meeting of the European Society of Cardiology Council on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions (CCNAP) is being held at the Royal Dublin Society, Dublin, Ireland, on 24-25 April, 2009.
Tags: UK News | Heart Health | Nursing & Midwifery | NHS | Europe
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