The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7216 p387
21 September 2002

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The Lancet (www.thelancet.com)

Angioplasty is not a better option than fibrinolysis after MI

Emergency angioplasty is no better than pre-hospital treatment with fibrinolytic drugs after acute myocardial infarction (MI), say French researchers. They compared the two strategies in a randomised trial of 840 patients who were initially managed by mobile emergency-care units. Patients received either accelerated alteplase (Actilyse) or underwent emergency angioplasty on arrival at hospital. The researchers found no significant difference between the two treatments in terms of the main outcome of the study (death, recurrence of MI, or disabling stroke, within one month of treatment). However, there were trends to suggest that patients given fibrinolytic therapy were at increased risk of MI recurrence and stroke (Lancet 2002; 360:825).