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Between-country comparisons of quality of care are difficult because of the voluntary nature of most national registries. However, the U.K. and Sweden both have registries that include all hospitals providing care for acute coronary syndromes, making a direct comparison more feasible. Investigators assessed data on consecutive myocardial infarction (MI) patients in the two countries (about 120,000 in Sweden and 390,000 in the U.K.) registered between 2004 and 2010. They compared all-cause mortality 30 days after admission and adjusted results for differences in case mix to measure effectiveness of treatment.
Thirty-day mortality was higher in the U.K. than Sweden overall (10.5% vs. 7.6%) and in clinically relevant subgroups defined by tropon…