Fasa Registry on Acute Myocardial Infarction (FaRMI): Feasibility Study and Pilot Phase Results

BACKGROUND Myocardial infarction (MI) is the leading cause of death in Iran. Every attempt to improve treatment patterns and patient outcomes needs a surveillance system to both consider the efficacy and safety measures. Fasa Registry on Myocardial Infarction (FaRMI) is the first population-based registry for acute MI in Iran targeted to provide meticulous description of patients' characteristics, to explore the management patterns of these patients, to discover the degree of adherence to the practice guidelines, and to investigate the determinants of poor in-hospital and later outcomes. METHODS A diagnosis of acute MI (type I, II and III) was made upon the accepted criteria by the attending cardiologists and types IV and V MI were excluded. Two registrar nurses gathered data on demographics, place of residence and ethnicity, past medical history, risk factors, and the clinical course. Management patterns in the pre-hospital setting, during the hospital stay and at the discharge time were recorded. Routine laboratory results and cardiac biomarkers on three consecutive days were registered. RESULTS pilot phase included the first 95 patients, 63.5% of whom were men and 31.5% were women. With a mean age of 62.89±13.75 years among participants, the rate of premature MI was 31.8%. ST segment elevation MI accounted for 68.2% cases and inferior wall was the most prevalent region involved followed by anterior and posterior walls. DISCUSSION Obtained data on the characteristics of patients suffering an MI event revealed the major determinants of delay in initiation of therapies and contributors of poor outcome. Completeness of data was guaranteed upon involvement of multiple checkpoints and data quality was secured by means of automatic validation processes in addition to weekly physicians' roundups. CONCLUSION Execution of FaRMI in the form presented is feasible and it will build up a comprehensive population-based registry for MI in the region.