030821 a Comparison of Coronary Angioplasty With
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The new england journal of medicine established in 1812 august 21, 2003 vol. 349 no. 8 A Comparison of Coronary Angioplasty with Fibrinolytic Therapy in Acute Myocardial Infarction Henning R. Andersen, M.D., Torsten T. Nielsen, M.D., Klaus Rasmussen, M.D., Leif Thuesen, M.D., Henning Kelbaek, M.D., Per Thayssen, M.D., Ulrik Abildgaard, M.D., Flemming Pedersen, M.D., Jan K. Madsen, M.D., Peer Grande, M.D., Anton B. Villadsen, M.D., Lars R. Krusell, M.D., Torben Haghfelt, M.D., Preben Lomholt, M.D., Steen E. Husted, M.D., Else Vigholt, M.D., Henrik K. Kjaergard, M.D., and Leif Spange Mortensen, M.Sc., for the DANAMI-2 Investigators* abstract background For the treatment of myocardial infarction with ST-segment elevation, primary angio- From the Departments of Cardiology at plasty is considered superior to fibrinolysis for patients who are admitted to hospitals Skejby Hospital, Aarhus University Hospi- tal, Aarhus (H.R.A., T.T.N., L.T., L.R.K.); Aal- with angioplasty facilities. Whether this benefit is maintained for patients who require borg University Hospital, Aalborg (K.R., transportation from a community hospital to a center where invasive treatment is avail- A.B.V.); Rigshospitalet University Hospital, able is uncertain. Copenhagen (H.K., J.K.M., P.G.); Odense University Hospital, Odense (P.T., T.H.); and the Gentofte Hospital, Hellerup (U.A.); methods the Departments of Medicine at Hilleroed We randomly assigned 1572 patients with acute myocardial infarction to treatment with Hospital, Hilleroed (F.P.); Randers Hospi- tal, Randers (P.L.); Aarhus County Hospi- angioplasty or accelerated treatment with intravenous alteplase; 1129 patients were en- tal and Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus rolled at 24 referral hospitals and 443 patients at 5 invasive-treatment centers. The pri- (S.E.H.); and Horsens Hospital, Horsens mary study end point was a composite of death, clinical evidence of reinfarction, or dis- (E.V.); the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Gentofte Hospital, Hellerup abling stroke at 30 days. (H.K.K.); and UNI-C, Danish Information Technology Centre for Education and Re- results search, Aarhus (L.S.M.) — all in Denmark. Address reprint requests to Dr. Andersen Among patients who underwent randomization at referral hospitals, the primary end at the Department of Cardiology, Skejby point was reached in 8.5 percent of the patients in the angioplasty group, as compared Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital, with 14.2 percent of those in the fibrinolysis group (P=0.002). The results were similar DK-8200 Aarhus N, Denmark, or at [email protected]. among patients who were enrolled at invasive-treatment centers: 6.7 percent of the pa- tients in the angioplasty group reached the primary end point, as compared with 12.3 *Participants in the Danish Multicenter percent in the fibrinolysis group (P=0.05). Among all patients, the better outcome after Randomized Study on Fibrinolytic Thera- py versus Acute Coronary Angioplasty in angioplasty was driven primarily by a reduction in the rate of reinfarction (1.6 percent in Acute Myocardial Infarction (DANAMI-2) the angioplasty group vs. 6.3 percent in the fibrinolysis group, P<0.001); no significant are listed in the Appendix. differences were observed in the rate of death (6.6 percent vs. 7.8 percent, P=0.35) or the N Engl J Med 2003;349:733-42. rate of stroke (1.1 percent vs. 2.0 percent, P=0.15). Ninety-six percent of patients were Copyright © 2003 Massachusetts Medical Society. transferred from referral hospitals to an invasive-treatment center within two hours. conclusions A strategy for reperfusion involving the transfer of patients to an invasive-treatment center for primary angioplasty is superior to on-site fibrinolysis, provided that the trans- fer takes two hours or less. n engl j med 349;8 www.nejm.org august 21, 2003 733 The new england journal of medicine ercutaneous coronary interven- ceived 300 mg of aspirin intravenously, the same ption has been shown to be superior to fibri- dose of a beta-blocker as patients in the fibrinolysis nolysis in the treatment of acute myocardial group, and 10,000 U of unfractionated heparin. Ad- infarction with ST-segment elevation in patients ad- ditional heparin was given to achieve an activated mitted to highly experienced angioplasty centers.1-4 clotting time of 350 to 450 seconds during the inva- In Western countries, primary angioplasty is offered sive procedure. Platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa–recep- only to the limited number of patients admitted tor blockers were administered at the discretion of directly to hospitals with interventional services. the physician. The infarct-related artery was treated Transportation from the local hospital to an angio- if it was totally occluded, if there was a culprit lesion plasty center has been considered to represent a ma- with stenosis of more than 30 percent of the luminal jor limitation on the widespread use of primary an- diameter, or if it had a flow grade of less than 3 ac- gioplasty. We conducted a community-wide trial to cording to the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarc- compare the transfer of patients for primary angio- tion (TIMI) classification.5 Stenting of the culprit le- plasty with the use of on-site fibrinolysis. sion was attempted in all patients, unless the vessel had a diameter of less than 2.0 mm. Angioplasty methods of non–infarct-related arteries was not performed. Patients were not considered for immediate coro- study design nary-artery bypass grafting unless they had severe We randomly assigned patients who had myocardial hemodynamic instability. Ticlopidine (500 mg) or infarction with ST-segment elevation to fibrinolysis clopidogrel (75 mg) was given daily for one month or primary angioplasty. From December 1997 to after stenting. The angiograms obtained before and October 2001, we enrolled patients from 24 refer- after angioplasty were evaluated by an independent ral hospitals without angioplasty facilities and 5 in- core laboratory (Cardialysis, Rotterdam, the Nether- vasive-treatment hospitals with such facilities and lands). on-site surgical backup. The participating hospitals When failed reperfusion was suspected (i.e., served 62 percent of the Danish population. Patients when there was no resolution of ST-segment eleva- admitted to a referral hospital underwent random- tion) or when there was reinfarction or recurrent is- ization while they lay on the ambulance stretcher chemia with ST-segment elevation after fibrinolysis, with the crew waiting. Transfer to the nearest angio- the protocol recommended repeated fibrinolysis plasty center had to be completed within three before consideration of rescue angioplasty. An early hours. A physician accompanied the patient. All am- or late reinfarction or recurrent ischemia in patients bulances had resuscitation equipment. The patients with an index infarction that had been treated by an- were transported directly to the catheterization lab- gioplasty was treated by repeated angioplasty. oratory. The primary end point was a composite of death from any cause, clinical reinfarction, or disabling treatment stroke at 30 days of follow-up. Procedure-related Patients randomly assigned to fibrinolysis received reinfarction was not included in the primary end 300 mg of aspirin orally, a beta-blocker intrave- point. A reinfarction was diagnosed if there was an nously (up to the equivalent of 20 mg of metopro- increase in the total creatine kinase and MB isoen- lol), accelerated treatment with tissue plasminogen zyme activity and either a history of ischemic chest activator (alteplase, given as a 15-mg bolus and an discomfort or electrocardiographic changes. Clini- infusion of 0.75 mg per kilogram of body weight cal reinfarction was diagnosed if the creatine kinase administered over a period of 30 minutes, followed MB level increased to above a reference limit in a pa- by an infusion of 0.5 mg per kilogram for a period of tient in whom the level had normalized after the in- 60 minutes), and an intravenous bolus of unfrac- dex infarction or if there was an increase of at least tionated heparin (5000 U), followed by a 48-hour in- 50 percent from the last non-normalized measure- fusion of unfractionated heparin. The starting dose ment. A procedure-related reinfarction was diag- of unfractionated heparin was 1000 U per hour; the nosed after coronary-artery bypass surgery if the cre- dose was adjusted to maintain an activated partial- atine kinase MB level increased to five times the thromboplastin time of 70 to 90 seconds. upper limit of normal or five times the preceding lev- Patients randomly assigned to angioplasty re- el; a procedure-related reinfarction was diagnosed 734 n engl j med 349;8 www.nejm.org august 21, 2003 coronary angioplasty versus fibrinolytic therapy in acute myocardial infarction after angioplasty if the level increased to twice the went randomization at referral hospitals and the upper limit of normal or twice the last non-normal- other involving patients who underwent randomiza- ized measurement. tion at invasive-treatment centers. The results were Disabling stroke was defined as a fatal stroke or analyzed both separately for each substudy and for a stroke causing a clinically significant mental or the two substudies combined. Each substudy was physical handicap at 30 days of follow-up. Clinically designed with two groups, interim analyses, and significant handicaps were defined as ranging from stopping rules, with an overall two-sided alpha of slight disability (i.e., the inability to engage in all 5 percent and a power (1 ¡ beta) of 80 percent. previous activities in a patient who was still able to The calculation of the sample size was based on take care of himself or herself without assistance) the assumption that the combined primary end to very severe disability (i.e., a bedridden state in- point would be reached by 30 days in 16 percent of volving a requirement for constant nursing care and the patients randomly assigned to fibrinolysis, in attention).