Abstract We studied the duration of hospitalization and clinical outcome of patients with an uncomplicated STEMI (ST-elevation myocardial infarction) treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in New York State between 2007 and 2009. Among the 4,939 such patients, 1,818 were discharged after 2 nights, and 1,922 were discharged after 3 nights. There were no deaths on the day after discharge among patients discharged after 2 nights. There was also no significant difference in 30-day mortality or readmission between patients discharged after 2 and 3 nights. In conclusion, 24-hour mortality was very low in patients with an uncomplicated STEMI discharged after 2 nights in the hospital, based on physician judgment. Thirty-day mortality is also low and similar to that of patients discharged after 3 nights in the hospital.
Keywords: STEMI; length of stay; discharge; readmission; myocardial infarction; coronary intervention