Choose life: Why patients in China refuse standard treatment for a type of heart attack

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Choose life: Why patients in China refuse standard treatment for a type of heart attack

ST segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a particularly severe type of heart attack associated with a high risk of mortality or long-term disability. Clinicians can reduce a patient’s chances of unfavorable outcomes by performing a procedure known as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), which combines coronary angioplasty—in which a balloon is inserted into a blocked artery of the heart to clear it—with stenting—inserting a tiny tube into a blocked artery to keep the line open. But studies in China have found that many patients with STEMI choose not to undergo PCI and that women with STEMI, in particular, have a reduced likelihood of undergoing guideline-based management and acute reperfusion therapy.

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