Baseline characteristics, management practices, and in-hospital outcomes of patients hospitalized with acute coronary syndromes in the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE)

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) represents a heterogenous spectrum of conditions. The Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) describes the epidemiology, management, and outcomes of patients with ACS. Data were collected from 11,543 patients enrolled in 14 countries. Of these patients, 30% had ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), 25% had non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), 38% had unstable angina pectoris, and 7% had other cardiac or noncardiac diagnoses. Over half of these patients (53%) were >/=65 years old. Reperfusion therapy was used in 62% of patients with STEMI. Percutaneous coronary intervention was performed in 40% of these subjects during the index admission. Intravenous glycoprotein IIb/IIIa blockers were used in 23%, 20%, and 7% of patients with STEMI, NSTEMI, and unstable angina, respectively (STEMI vs NSTEMI, p = 0.0018, and for either group vs unstable angina, p