Pharmacology of thrombolytic agents. Implications for therapy of coronary artery thrombosis

The potential for rapidly dissolving coronary artery thrombi and for decreasing the risk of mortality after myocardial infarction by use of thrombolytic therapy is considerable. However, data are insufficient regarding the relative efficacy of regional vs systemic administration, the proper dose of activator administered regionally, the therapeutic role of the plasma lytic state during regional therapy, the incidence of serious bleeding, and the potential for simpler therapy using new activators with fibrin specificity.