STEMI and STEMI Equivalents, i.e. Who Needs the Cath Lab Now!

STEMI and STEMI Equivalents, i.e. Who Needs the Cath Lab Now!

1. The ACC/AHA Criteria (1) (2) 

ST-elevation in 2 contiguous leads that is:

  • Men < 40: 2.5 mm ST-elevation in V2 or V3, 1 mm in any other lead

  • Men > 40: 2.0 mm ST-elevation in V2 or V3, 1 mm in any other lead

  • Women: >1.5 mm ST-elevation in V2 or V3, 1 mm in any other lead

STEMI's have a 90-minute door-to-balloon time mandate from the Center for Medicare Services (CMS). To be good stewards of our resources we need to be familiar the false positive STEMI patterns.  Ultimately, however, some degree of over triage and activation for false positives is expected and (potentially even) desirable.

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