Highlights of latest American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association Guidelines for Management of Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction

The recently published American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guidelines for the Management of Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction stress 3 major points: (1) the prehospital phase from the onset of symptoms to definitive therapy in the emergency department must be shortened by 50% in order to reduce further the estimated 30% mortality rate for all patients in the community who suffer an acute myocardial infarction; (2) a more widespread use of thrombolytic agents is warranted because of the demonstrated, extremely time-dependent benefit to survivorship: the sooner it is given, the better the outcome; and (3) the administration of aspirin (160-325 mg) daily for an indefinite period is perhaps the most important therapy for a patient with acute myocardial infarction. Long-term therapy with lipid-lowering Statin drugs and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor agents are gaining increasing evidence-based data to support their perpetual use as well.