Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To identify the characteristics, treatments and hospital outcomes of patients diagnosed as having acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). DESIGN: A 3-year prospective registry. SETTING: Four tertiary care hospitals in three major cities of UAE from December 2003 to December 2006. PATIENTS: 1842 eligible consecutive patients with suspected ACS. INTERVENTIONS: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Characteristics, treatments and in-hospital outcomes were recorded. RESULTS: The mean age was 50.8±10.0 years, and 93.1% were male. More than half (51%) had ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The smoking rate was 46.4%, and diabetes was present in 38.9%. Only a minority (17.3%) used the ambulance services. For patients with STEMI, the median symptom to hospital time was 127 (IQR 60-256) min, and the median diagnostic ECG to thrombolysis time was 28 (IQR 16-50) min. Reperfusion in STEMI was in 81.4% (64.8% thrombolysis and 16.6% primary percutaneous coronary intervention). During hospitalisation, only a minority of the patients did not receive antiplatelets, anticoagulants, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors and statin therapy. In-hospital complications were not common in our registry cohort. In-hospital mortality was 1.68%. CONCLUSIONS: ACS patients in UAE are young but have higher risk factors such as smoking and diabetes. Almost half present as STEMI. Only a minority use ambulance services.