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In France, one in eight patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is admitted direct to an emergency department (ED) in a hospital without percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) facilities. Guidelines recommend transfer to a PCI center, with a door-in to door-out (DI-DO) time of ≤30 min. We report DI-DO times and identify the main factors affecting them.RESURCOR is a French Northern Alps registry of patients with STEMI of <12 h duration. We focused on patients admitted direct, without prehospital medical care, to EDs in 19 non-PCI centers from 2012 to 2014. We divided DI-DO time into diagnostic time (ED admission to call for transfer) and logistical time (call for transfer to ED discharge).Among 2007 patients, 240 were admitted direct to EDs in non-PCI centers; 57.9% were treated with primary angioplasty and 32.9% received thrombolysis. Median (interquartile range) DI-DO time was 92.5 (67-143) min, with a diagnostic time of 41 (23-74) min and a logistical time of 47.5 (32-69) min. Five patients (2.1%) had a DI-DO time ≤30 min. Five variables were independently associated with a shorter DI-DO time: local transfer (mobile intensive care unit [MICU] team available at referring ED) (P = .017) or transfer by air ambulance (P = .004); shorter distance from referring ED to PCI center (P < .001); shorter time from symptom onset to ED admission (P = .002); thrombolysis (P = .006); and extended myocardial infarction (P = .007).In view of longer-than-recommended DI-DO times, efforts are required to promote urgent local transfer and use of thrombolysis.

Background: Although mortality due to acute heart failure has decreased, its prevalence in France is still high. The aim of this study was to examine the quality of acute heart failure treatment in French emergency departments (EDs) with reference to subsequently published European Society of Cardiology (ESC) recommendations., Methods: The medical records of patients with acute pulmonary oedema (as a marker for acute heart failure) admitted to the EDs of 11 French hospitals in 2013 were reviewed retrospectively., Results: A total of 834 patients were included (median [interquartile range] age 84 [78-89] years; 48.6% male). Rates of compliance of initial management in 2013 to subsequently published 2015 recommendations were as follows: (1) thoracic ultrasound was performed in 17.3%; (2) loop diuretics were given in 75.9%; at a correct dose (among those for whom this was calculable) in 40.0% (3); intravenous nitrates were given in 21.7% of patients with systolic blood pressure>110mmHg; (4) non-invasive ventilation was initiated in 22.0% of patients with respiratory distress. Discharge summaries most often lacked a scheduled cardiologist follow-up (89.4%) and discharge patient weight (78.9%)., Conclusions: The early management of patients with acute pulmonary oedema (as a marker of acute heart failure) in France in 2013 was quite different to recommendations published in 2015. A programme to implement the new recommendations is in place, and a repeat evaluation will be conducted in 2017., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)