DETERMINING THE TIME OF PRESENTATION TO EMERGENCY OF PATIENTS WITH ACUTE MYOCARDIAL

http://dx.doi.org/10.5902/217976927422 Objective: to identify the time between the onset of symptoms of the patient with Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) to the presentation to an emergency department, describing the demographic and clinical characteristics of these patients seen in a university hospital in Porto Alegre. Methods: cross-sectional study, patients were selected in consecutive sample after confirmation of acute myocardial infarction and answered a structured questionnaire. Results: of the sixteen patients 9 (56.3%) were men, mean age 64.7 ± 13.2 years. Chest pain was the most prevalent symptom occurring in 62.5% (10) of the cases. The median time to seek assistance was 4 hours and 30 minutes with interquartile range (3:10 to 9:45). Eight patients had received prior information about symptoms of acute myocardial infarction. Conclusion: time delay before seeking help is still long, the lack of manifestations of infarction may be a contributing factor.