Clinical controversies surrounding thrombolytic therapy in acute myocardial infarction.

The treatment of acute myocardial infarction has changed tremendously in the past decade because thrombolytic therapy has become the treatment of choice for the patient with acute myocardial infarction. Although many issues have been resolved, several controversial issues remain unresolved. This article addresses thrombolytic agents in terms of their superiority in achieving infarct vessel patency and mortality reduction as well as the role of thrombolysis in patients who present with chest pain of greater than 6 hours' duration, who are elderly, and who have an inferior infarction.