Unnecessary Catheterization Laboratory Activation: The Cost of Doing Business?

National efforts to improve the care of patients with ST-segment-elevation MI have focused on reducing door-to-balloon times for primary percutaneous coronary intervention. However, concerns have been raised about inappropriate catheterization laboratory activations in programs designed to achieve this goal. To determine the prevalence and etiology of “false-positive” activation of the cath lab, investigators analyzed prospective registry data from a regional system that provides for transfer of patients with STEMI from 30 community hospitals to a tertiary cardiac center in Minnesota. The main outcome of interest was false-positive cath lab activation, defined by one of three criteria: no culprit lesion, no significant coronary artery disea…