What is the term for the time from a heart attack patient’s arrival in the emergency department to the performance of a PCI (angioplasty)?

• A. Arrival-to-angioplasty interval
• B. Door-to-balloon time
• C. Pre-procedure duration
• D. Time-to-intervention

Answer: (B)

In patients with suspected STEMI, the speed at which the blocked artery is opened after they arrive at the hospital is tracked by a specific quality metric: door-to-balloon time. This term captures the interval from the emergency department arrival (the “door”) to the moment the balloon is inflated in the cath lab during PCI to restore blood flow (the “balloon”). It directly reflects how quickly a hospital can deliver definitive reperfusion via angioplasty.

This phrasing is preferred because it precisely describes the start and end points of the PCI procedure: arrival in the hospital and the opening of the blocked artery with balloon inflation. Other phrases are less standard or too vague for this exact timing, and they don’t specify the key PCI step.