THE ESSENTIAL
- Proper management of a heart attack should be within 2 hours.
- A study reveals that the delay for medical care is 4 hours and up to 8 hours for patients whose symptoms appeared gradually.
It’s very urgent ! Symptoms of a heart attack always require prompt treatment. The instruction is even very precise: more than 2 hours following an attack, not only is it difficult to guarantee a good effect of the treatment, but above all, the risk of death is much higher.
However, a study conducted by the European Society of Cardiology and published on September 12, 2019 in the’European Journal of Cardiology Nursing, indicates that the delay before support is sometimes much longer. Patients – especially those whose symptoms have developed gradually – can wait up to 8 hours for medical help! As for those who developed symptoms suddenly, the delay was still 2.6 hours.
Progressive symptoms as severe as sudden symptoms
Sudden symptoms are characterized by sharp and intense pain, while progressive symptoms may be only mild discomfort that gets progressively worse. However, “both are a medical emergency and require very prompt help “, recalls Dr. Sahereh Mirzaei, author of the study carried out at the University of Illinois at Chicago and who regrets that this work “show that gradual symptoms are not taken seriously”.
The analysis was conducted on 474 patients admitted to the emergency room with an acute coronary symptom (myocardial infarction and unstable angina). Questionnaires were used to assess the characteristics of the symptoms as well as the time elapsed between their appearance, the intervention of the emergency services and the time of arrival of the patient in the emergency room.
The median interval between the first signs and arrival at the hospital is 4 hours
Analysis of the results shows that the symptoms appeared suddenly in 56% of patients and gradually in 44% (women seeking medical help earlier than men in case of acute pain) and that there is a median difference of 4 hours between the appearance of the first symptoms and arrival at the hospital. Only 45% of patients called an ambulance while 52% chose to use their own means of transport to reach the hospital.
“The symptoms of acute coronary syndrome are not specific and their interpretation is often difficult. But chest pain is often a warning sign of a blocked artery. These pains should not be ignored, as symptoms may also include throat, neck, stomach and shoulder pain often accompanied by nausea and cold sweats. In this situation, patients should contact emergency services immediately“, says Dr. Mirzaei.
Infarction: the signs may appear following an effort
Of the patients who participated in this study, 54% developed symptoms following exercise.
“Men with multiple risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, or a family history of heart disease should be aware that chest pain or discomfort following exercise may be signs of ‘a heart attack“, reminds Dr Sahereh Mirzaei.