Acutemyocardial infarction (AMI) is one of the leading causes of
death worldwide (White & Chew 2008).
Early restoration of
coronary flow by thrombolytic therapy or primary angioplasty,
when indicated, reduces the risk for AMI and prevents the development
of complications (Giugliano & Braunwald 2003).
In line
with these, studies have shown that the efficacy of thrombolytic
therapy depends directly on the time between the appearance of
the first symptoms of AMI and the provision of thrombolytic
medication. The survival rate of patients is very high when treatment
is initiated within an hour of the heart attack and is dramatically
reduced when 6 h elapse.
Studies have shown that the
survival rate is approximately 50% if the thrombolytic treatment
is initiated within 1 h and is reduced to 28% when provided 3 h
after the onset of AMI (Fibrinolytic Therapy Trialist’ Collaborative
Group 1994; Nallamothu et al. 2007).
Additionally, early
angioplasty is superior to thrombolytic therapy in the mediumand
long-term viability of the patient when performed within
the first 90 min of the episode, but this advantage disappears
after the first 180 min (Diercks et al. 2008; Keeley et al. 2003;
White & Chew 2008).