The Stent for Life project in Italy.

In Italy, as in other European countries, public service healthcare presents some disparities that are related to geographical, economic, organizational and structural issues. Although some Italian regions have excellent networks for the treatment of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), others still have to develop a model that allows each STEMI patient to receive the best reperfusion treatment. A recent nationwide registry from the Italian Society of Interventional Cardiology (SICI-GISE) showed that efficient STEMI networks cover approximately 50% of the Italian territory. For these reasons, Italy joined the Stent for Life initiative in August 2010 with the primary goal of implementing and defining tailored action programs in order to ensure that the majority of the Italian STEMI population have access to life-saving primary percutaneous coronary intervention.