Early identification and delay to treatment in myocardial infarction and stroke: differences and similarities

BACKGROUND: The two major complications of atherosclerosis are acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and acute ischemic stroke. Both are life-threatening conditions characterised by the abrupt cessation of blood flow to respective organs, resulting in an infarction. Depending on the extent of the infarction, loss of organ function varies considerably. In both conditions, it is possible to limit the extent of infarction with early intervention. In both conditions, minutes count. This article aims to describe differences and similarities with regard to the way patients, bystanders and health care providers act in the acute phase of the two diseases with the emphasis on the pre-hospital phase. METHOD: A literature search was performed on the PubMed, Embase (Ovid SP) and Cochrane Library databases. RESULTS: In both conditions, symptoms vary considerably. Patients appear to suspect AMI more frequently than stroke and, in the former, there is a gender gap (men suspect AMI more frequently than women). With regard to detection of AMI and stroke at dispatch centre and in Emergency Medical Service (EMS) there is room for improvement in both conditions. The use of EMS appears to be higher in stroke but the overall delay to hospital admission is shorter in AMI. In both conditions, the fast track concept has been shown to influence the delay to treatment considerably. In terms of diagnostic evaluation by the EMS, more supported instruments are available in AMI than in stroke. Knowledge of the importance of early treatment has been reported to influence delays in both AMI and stroke. CONCLUSION: Both in AMI and stroke minutes count and therefore the fast track concept has been introduced. Time to treatment still appears to be longer in stroke than in AMI. In the future improvement in the early detection as well as further shortening to start of treatment will be in focus in both conditions. A collaboration between cardiologists and neurologists and also between pre-hospital and in-hospital care might be fruitful.