Heart attack victims get faster help

More than 90 percent of U.S. heart attack patients who need the lifesaving procedure receive it within just 90 minutes of being admitted to the hospital, according to a study released Monday in the journal Circulation. The study on the American Heart Association's journal shows that in 2010, 91 percent of heart attack patients who needed angioplasty were treated within the 90-minute window. While in 2005, 44% were. Researchers analyzed data on more than 300,000 such patients who underwent emergency angioplasty between January of 2005 and October of 2010. The improvement is the result of a nationwide effort between federal agencies, health care organizations and health care providers to improve heart attack care and outcome, said study author Dr. Harlan M. Krumholz, a professor of medicine and epidemiology and public health at Yale University School of Medicine, according to U.S. News reports.