Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
CHICAGO (AP) — Doctors joke that if you're going to have a heart attack, the safest place would be at a big national gathering of heart specialists. But a new study suggests some older heart patients may fare better when these doctors aren't around.
Survival chances were better for cardiac arrest patients and for the sickest heart failure patients if they were treated at teaching hospitals during the two biggest national cardiology meetings. That's compared with those treated during weeks before and after the meetings.
The authors say some patients might get less intensive treatment during those meetings, and that may benefit the sickest patients. But the study isn't conclusive.
It was published online Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
