Efficacy and Safety of Prehospital Administration of Bivalirudin in STEMI Patients Redirected for Primary PCI Based on Tele-Transmitted 12-Lead ECGs

Primary angioplasty (pPCI) is the therapy of choice in patients with ST elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) in Denmark. However, time is lost transferring patients from a local hospital to an invasive treatment centre. Time can be saved by redirecting STEMI patients to pPCI based on wireless prehospital 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) transmission directly to a cardiologist's handheld device. To prevent complications during the transportation of STEMI patients to the invasive hospital, patients are treated with oxygen, aspirin, clopidogrel, heparin, and nitro-glycerine in the ambulance. However, heparin use is cumbersome for the ambulance personnel since it must be kept at 5 degrees Celsius. An alternative to heparin may be bivalirudin, since it can be kept at room temperature and thus is easily administered in the prehospital setting.

Comparison: Heparin versus bivalirudin treatment. Efficacy is determined by thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow in the first and final coronary angiogram. Safety is determined by the rate of bleeding complication.