[Angiographic morphology of the coronary arteries after a recent myocardial infarction treated by intravenous thrombolysis].

Thirty patients (26 men, 4 women) aged from 32 to 73 years (mean 54 years) who developed anterior (14 cases) or posterior (16 cases) myocardial infarction received intravenous streptokinase in doses of 1,500,000 units 2 to 10 hours (mean 4 hours) after the onset of infarction. Coronary angiography, performed 18.6 days on average after thrombolysis, showed a distinct predominance of asymmetrical stenosis with irregular walls and a narrow neck (10 cases, 33 p. 100) or of complete occlusion (12 cases, 40 p. 100) in the artery responsible for the infarction. Complete occlusion probably was the ultimate stage of stenosis. In contrast, the various angiographic images observed in arteries unrelated to the infarction were evenly distributed. The radiological morphology of coronary arterial lesions after a recent infarction is suggestive of ruptured atheromatous plaque, sometimes complicated by thrombosis in situ. Identical images are seen in unstable angina. These findings indicate that one single therapeutic approach should be applied to the most severe types of coronary disease due to atherosclerosis.