Effect on outcome of the presence or absence of chest pain at initiation of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator therapy in acute myocardial infarction. The Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction Investigators.

Publication/Presentation Date

4-15-1994

Abstract

To ascertain whether the outcome of patients with suspected myocardial infarction differs when chest pain is still present at initiation of thrombolytic therapy, participants in the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction Phase II study, all of whom presented within 4 hours of symptoms onset, were retrospectively divided into 2 groups: (1) those with chest pain present at onset of intravenous thrombolysis, n = 3,000; and (2) those who were free of chest pain on beginning intravenous thrombolytic therapy, n = 337. Patients free of chest pain were older (58 vs 57 years, p = 0.01), more often women (23 vs 17%, p = 0.01), had fewer electrocardiographic leads with ST elevation (3.8 vs 4.1, p < 0.001), and the presenting event was confirmed less often as myocardial infarction than as chest pain without infarction (88 vs 96%, p < 0.001). There were no significant differences between the 2 groups for in-hospital death, reinfarction, recurrent ischemic events, stroke, overall hemorrhagic complications, coronary angioplasty or bypass surgery. At 6-weeks follow-up, more pain-free patients had resting ejection fraction > 0.55 (35 vs 31%, p = 0.001) and fewer developed congestive heart failure (12 vs 20%). At 1-year follow-up, fewer pain-free patients developed congestive heart failure (15 vs 21%, p = 0.009), but no differences existed between the 2 groups in frequency of death, reinfarction, coronary angioplasty, bypass surgery or anginal class. Thus, there are several observations in patients who were free of chest pain at onset of lytic therapy. (1) The majority developed enzymatic or electrocardiographic evidence of acute myocardial infarction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Volume

73

Issue

11

First Page

729

Last Page

736

ISSN

0002-9149

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

PubMedID

8160607

Department(s)

Department of Medicine

Document Type

Article

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