Time taken to receive angioplasty (PCI) during a heart attack

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), commonly known as angioplasty, is a procedure used to treat patients with diseased (narrowed or blocked) arteries in the heart. Arteries in the heart are also known as the coronary arteries. PCI is performed to widen the diseased coronary arteries to allow blood to flow more freely through the heart alleviating chest pain (angina) and/or minimizing heart muscle damage during an acute heart attack. PCI is also referred to as percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA).

Early intervention with PCI can save lives and preserve heart muscle and function. The sooner the PCI is done, the better the chance of survival. A high percentage of heart attack patients who receive PCI within 90 minutes of their arrival at the hospital while having a heart attack may indicate that a hospital provides a higher level of care.

About this measure

This measure tracks the percentage of heart attack patients who receive PCI within 90 minutes of their arrival at the hospital while having a heart attack. The second graph shows the trend over time for this measure.

Northwestern Memorial Hospital wants to provide the most up to date data. For this measure, our data is from a more recent time period than the benchmark time period.

Note: In this case, a higher number is better.