The present situation in Turkey “Stent for Life” project

Objectives: The Stent for Life (SFL) project’s main mission is to increase the use of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in more than 70% of all acute ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients. Previous to the SFL project, thrombolysis was the dominant reperfusion strategy since a low percentage of acute STEMI patients had access to primary PCI in our country. In this study, we present the main barriers of access to primary PCI in the centers that were involved with the SFL project.
Study design: Patients with acute STEMI admitted to the centers that were involved in the SFL project between 2009 and 2011 were included in the analysis.
Results: Since the inception of the SFL project, the primary PCI rate has reached over 90% in SFL pilot cities. In the last 5 years, the number of ambulances and emergency stations has increased. Since the collaboration with 112 Emergency Service, a great majority of cases were reached via the emergency medical system. The mean door-to-balloon time for the pilot cities was 54.72±43.66 minutes.
Conclusion: After three years of the SFL project, primary PCI has emerged as the preferred reperfusion strategy for patients with STEMI in pilot cities.

Keywords: Emergency treatment/methods, angioplasty, balloon, coronary/methods; electrocardiography; Turkey; myocardial infarction/diagnosis/therapy; stent for life