Massive pulmonary embolism was confirmed by pulmonary arteriography in 23 patients. All were seen between 2 and 48 hours after the onset of embolism and none had pre-existing cardiorespiratory disease. Fifteen were treated with streptokinase and eight with heparin. Factors which might influence prognosis and rate of resolution were similar in the patients in each group, and there was no signifi...

IED20006 THE FIRST clinical report of the use of a thrombolytic agent (streptokinase) to treat acute pulmonary embolism (PE) appeared in 1964,1 and the first randomized clinical trial comparing urokinase plus heparin with heparin alone was published in 1970.2 A randomized clinical trial comparing urokinase to streptokinase in the treatment of PE was published in 1974.3 The first report of a thi...

The clinical effects of intravenous streptokinase in patients with acute myocardial infarction were compared with those of intracoronary streptokinase in a randomized, prospective study. Comparisons were also made with a historical control group. Fifty patients were entered into the study at 2.4 + 1.2 hr after onset of pain, and 27 were assigned to intravenous and 23 to intracoronary therapy. T...

In patients with myocardial infarction, thrombolytic therapy induces a paradoxical activation of the hemostatic mechanism. In patients with unstable angina, the effect of thrombolysis on the coagulation cascade is unknown. We prospectively measured the plasma concentrations of prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 and fibrinopeptide A in consecutive patients with unstable angina randomized to receive plac...

Because paradoxical increase in thrombin activity was reported after the administration of streptokinase in patients with acute myocardial infarction the velocity of reperfusion and degree of myocardial damage were studied when heparin was infused during rather than after streptokinase infusion. Thirty seven consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction were randomised to receive intrav...

BACKGROUND Microvascular perfusion is often impaired after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We proposed that in situ thrombosis might contribute to poor myocardial perfusion in this setting. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated the effect of low-dose intracoronary streptokinase administered immediately after primary PCI. METHODS Forty-one patients undergoing primary PCI were...

The treatment of tuberculous meningitis is frequently hindered by the formation of exudate within the cerebrospinal spaces. This exudate may obstruct the cerebrospinal circulation and give rise to the complications of subtentorial, basal cistern, and spinal block. Furthermore, the presence of exudate predisposes to the occurrence of tuberculous arteritis, which is responsible for the cerebral a...

The purpose of this communication is to review briefly the agents available at the present time for use in thrombolytic therapy and to indicate why we believe that at the present time streptokinase is the only suitable agent for extended clinical trial. An account will then be given of the use of streptokinase administered by local perfusion in the treatment of peripheral arterial occlusion and...