Year: 1992
Type: letter
Abstract: study in the absence of electrocardiographic criteria is not necessarily generally applicable.Unless thrombolvsis is restricted to those presenting early and with classic symptoms of infarction, the proportion of alternative diagnoses (2-2%) is unlikely to be substantiated.For example, phase 1 of the myocardial infarction triage and intervention project found only one in six confirmed infarctions among those evaluated before admission to hospital.'The statement that "even in an urban area there would be a temporal advantage in the general practitioner giving thrombolytic therapy in the home" is untested and cannot be extrapolated from the present study.A 999 call and shortening of the delays in hospital would have reduced the difference between home and hospital treatment substantially.We have shown that in an urban area the time of administration of thrombolytic treatment after the onset of symptoms was reduced to a median of 150 minutes by the introduction of a "fast track" system.'Until these issues are resolved it may be pre- mature to advise the widespread implementation of pre-hospital thrombolysis without electrocardiographic confirmation.
Source: BMJ
Authors: R. J. Fairhurst, S. D. Milnes, J. Scott, I. H. Macleod
Language: English
Subfield: Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2012806870