Facilitated percutaneous coronary intervention for acute myocardial infarction.

Facilitated percutaneous coronary intervention is a treatment strategy for acute myocardial infarction in which patients are given medications in the emergency department that open or partially open infarct-related coronary arteries. The patients are then taken to the cardiac catheterization laboratory for early angiography and angioplasty or placement of a coronary artery stent. Preliminary evidence suggests that this treatment strategy may offer outcomes similar to or better than primary angioplasty and superior to solitary fibrinolytic therapy. In addition, the treatment can be started even in hospitals that do not have primary intervention capability. Currently, large-scale clinical trials are assessing the impact of the facilitated percutaneous coronary intervention treatment strategy on the clinical outcomes of patients with acute myocardial infarction.