Rescue angioplasty

uring the 1980s, thrombolytic therapy became the initial reatment for patients with acute myocardial infarction AMI). Toward the end of the decade, primary percutaneus coronary intervention (PCI) was shown to be effective 1,2), and a recent analysis of 23 randomized trials demontrated improved rates of reinfarction, stroke, and death ompared with thrombolytic therapy (3). However, because f limited facilities and trained interventionists, many hositals continue to initiate thrombolytic therapy for patients ith AMI.