The addition of plasminogen and streptokinase to rabbit serum results in appearance of chemotactic activity which is relatively heat-labile and dialyzable. Generation of this activity requires heat-labile factors in serum, but not the sixth component of complement. The optimal mole ratio for generation of chemotactic activity is 1:1 to 1:3 for plasminogen to streptokinase. Neither material alon...

Sixteen patients underwent emergency coronary artery bypass surgery immediately after intracoronary streptokinase infusion for acute evolving myocardial infarction. Of these, 11 patients had 70% residual stenosis in the recanalised vessel, and in five thrombolysis was unsuccessful. There were no hospital deaths. All the patients sustained myocardial necrosis, the peak activity of creatine phosp...

Recombinant desulfatohirudin (HI), a potent and specific thrombin inhibitor, was compared with heparin (HE) as an adjunct to streptokinase thrombolysis. In pentobarbital-anesthetized dogs, an occlusive thrombus (whole blood+thrombin) was introduced into the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) with superimposed endothelial damage and distal high-grade stenosis. Intravenous infusion of...

The introduction by Cathie (1) of intrathecal streptokinase to prevent and treat blockage of the cerebrospinal pathways led to hopes that the treatment of this serious complication might be greatly improved; and that prevention and removal of the exudate in this disease might shorten the course of treatment and render chemotherapy more effective. These hopes were sustained by later reports (2, ...

Streptococcus pyogenes is a major human pathogen responsible for numerous diseases ranging from uncomplicated skin and throat infections to severe, life threatening invasive disease such as necrotising fasciitis and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. These severe invasive infections progress rapidly and produce high rates of morbidity and mortality despite the implementation of aggressive trea...

The term " thrombolytic therapy " refers to the attempted removal of preformed intravascular fibrin occlusions using fibrinolytic agents. Several substances have been described as inducing a fibrinolytic state in the peripheral blood ; however, for only a few of these (namely, the plasminogen activators streptokinase and urokinase) was it proved beyond reasonable doubt that administration resul...

Fibrinolytic therapy may be effective in the treatment of ischemic stroke, and clinical trials are under way. We evaluated two fibrinolytic agents, an analogue of tissue plasminogen activator (Fb-Fb-CF, the catalytic fragment of the tissue plasminogen activator molecule with a prolonged serum half-life, n = 10) and streptokinase (n = 7), in a rabbit model of embolic stroke. Both agents were giv...

Major pulmonary embolism occurring insidiously over several weeks (subacute massive pulmonary embolism) has a high mortality and may not respond well to standard anticoagulant or thrombolytic treatment. A priming dose of plasminogen was used to enhance thrombolysis produced by a streptokinase infusion in five consecutive patients with subacute massive pulmonary embolism. In each patient a drama...