Rationale for on-site cardiac surgery for primary angioplasty: a time for reappraisal

Since the early 1990s, with significant improvement in the procedural success of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs), there has been a concomitant reduction in the need for emergency coronary artery bypass graft surgery. This review article focuses on the need for on-site cardiac surgery in patients with acute myocardial infarction undergoing primary angioplasty at centers without on-site cardiac surgical backup. It gives an overview of the need for emergency bypass surgery in both the large trial setting and the community hospital setting. Special consideration is also given to the risks and benefits of primary angioplasty compared with thrombolytic therapy, transfer to an institution with an on-site cardiac surgical facility compared with primary PCI, the frequency and indications for emergency cardiac surgery related and unrelated to primary angioplasty and the requirements for primary angioplasty that must be met in hospitals without the capability of on-site cardiac surgery.