Late stenting not better days after heart attack

"The concept of better late than never does not apply when it comes to reopening blocked heart arteries, researchers reported. A new international study found that when doctors try to use stents to prop open a closed artery days after an untreated heart attack, patients do no better long-term than patients who simply received drugs and other nonsurgical treatment. In at least one out of three heart attacks, surgeons fail to reopen the blocked artery responsible right away, in part because many heart attack victims do not seek treatment for many hours or days, when heart muscle may already be damaged. "Our study specifically addresses the question of whether, with a complete blockage, there is any benefit, now that the dust has settled after the acute heart attack, to opening the artery anyhow," said Dr. Daniel Mark of the Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, who led the study. "I think our comprehensive answer to that is the benefit is very small and it's not worth the extra cost of doing the procedure." Earlier results from the Occluded Artery Trial or OAT showed that, four years after the heart attacks, the rate of death, heart failure or a subsequent heart attack was not reduced by a late attempt at removing the blockage. The new quality-of-life data, reported in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine, show more reasons why opening an artery too long after a heart attack may be a waste of time and effort" - Khaleej Times