The management of acute myocardial infarction in the cardiological intensive care units in Italy: the 'BLITZ 4 Qualità' campaign for performance measurement and quality improvement.

AIM

To assess and promote compliance of Italian cardiological intensive care units (CCUs) with evidence-based guidelines for the management of acute myocardial infarction (MI).

METHODS AND RESULTS

The process of diagnosis and treatment of MI was prospectively evaluated in 163 CCUs by use of 30 indicators during two enrolment phases, each followed by a feedback of both local and general performance. Overall, 5854 patients with ST-segment elevation MI (STEMI) and 5852 with non-ST-segment elevation MI (NSTEMI) were consecutively enrolled. The target for each indicator was defined as compliance with the relevant recommendations in ≥90% of suitable patients and it was met for nine (30%) and 10 (33.3%) indicators in the first and second phases, respectively. Regardless of target, a significant improvement in compliance was observed in the second phase in 10 out of 30 indicators (33.3%). Use of pre-hospital ECG, expedite delivery of reperfusion therapy, dosage of antithrombotic drugs, and non-pharmacological implementation of secondary prevention were often off target. Similar in-hospital mortality was observed in phases I and II, both in patients with STEMI (4.0 vs. 4.2%, p=0.79) and NSTEMI (1.8 vs. 2.4%, p=0.11). Overall, 30-day mortality were 5.7% for patients with STEMI and 3.4% with NSTEMI.

CONCLUSIONS

Performance indicators can accurately weigh the whole process of diagnosis and treatment of patients with MI and monitor the improvements in the quality of care. In our large population of consecutive patients, satisfactory 30-day outcomes were observed despite suboptimal adherence to guidelines for some indicators of recognised prognostic relevance.