WeChat Group of Chest Pain Center for Patients with Acute ST-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction: Faster Treatment Speed and Better Prognosis

Objective: To explore the effect of establishing a WeChat platform for a chest pain center as a medium to increase the treatment speed and improve the prognosis of patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI).

Methods: The chest pain center, established by the creation of a WeChat group, included primary hospitals in Chongqing that are not able to perform PPCI and the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, which is the core of the center and which includes medical staff of the catheter laboratory, the cardiology department, the emergency, the vascular surgery department, and the cardiothoracic surgery department. Patients with acute STEMI who underwent PPCI from January 2017 to November 2018 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University were enrolled. The patients (including emergency department visitors, 120 callers, and patients transferred from the critical care unit or other departments) were divided into a WeChat pre-admission startup group (n=311) and a non-WeChat pre-admission startup group (control group, n=172). Patients’ door-to-balloon time, standard door-to-balloon time achievement rate, artery puncture to balloon dilation time, heart failure rate, length of stay, and incidence of adverse events (including fatal arrhythmia, cardiogenic shock, and death) during hospitalization were compared between the two groups.

Results: Four hundred eight-three consecutive patients were enrolled. There was no significant difference in patients’ sex, age, length of stay, and cardiovascular events during hospitalization between the two groups (P>0.05). The door-to-balloon time of the patients in the WeChat pre-admission startup group was much shorter than that of patients in the non-WeChat pre-admission startup group (27.35±10.58 min vs. 88.15±53.79 min, P<0.05). The standard door-to-balloon time achievement rate was significantly higher in the WeChat pre-admission startup group than in the non-WeChat pre-admission startup group (100% vs. 72.09%, P<0.05).

Conclusion: The application of a WeChat platform significantly shortened the door-to-balloon time of patients receiving PPCI and increased the standard door-to-balloon time achievement rate for patients with STEMI. In addition, the platform is also conducive to integrating medical resources and sharing medical information. The establishment of the platform increased the treatment speed and improved the prognosis of patients with STEMI.