To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: PCI Outcomes Better When EMS Administers Tirofiban Following MI URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/228A36.htm Doctor's Guide August 15, 2008
NEW YORK -- August 14, 2008 -- Giving heart attack patients a high-dose of the anticlotting drug tirofiban in the ambulance before they reach hospital improves their clinical outcome. This is the conclusion of authors of an article in this week's Cardiology Special Issue of The Lancet. Arnoud van't Hof, Isala Klinieken, MD, Department of Cardiology, Zwolle, Netherlands, and colleagues performed a randomised controlled trial to investigate whether addition of the antiplatelet drug tirofiban to this standard package improved the results of primary coronary angioplasty (PCI) for these patients. The study was carried out in 24 centres in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. Between June 2006 and November 2007, 984 patients with ST-elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) who were candidates to undergo PCI were randomly assigned to either high-bolus dose tirofiban or placebo in addition to aspirin, heparin, and clopidogrel. A total of 936 of these patients were randomly assigned to treatment after a prehospital diagnosis of myocardial infarction in the ambulance. The researchers found that ST deviation on the patients' electrocardiograms was significantly lower in the tirofiban group than the placebo group. Major bleeding did not differ significantly between the 2 groups, with 4% of patients in the tirofiban group and 3% in the placebo group suffering major bleeds. The authors said, "Our trial was not powered on a difference in clinical outcome between the 2 groups. However, we noted a better clinical outcome in the tirofiban group than in the placebo group, with lower overall mortality and less urgent repeat PCI … Our finding that routine prehospital initiation of high-bolus dose tirofiban improved ST-segment resolution and clinical outcome after PCI, emphasises that further platelet aggregation inhibition besides high-dose clopidogrel is mandated in patients with STEMI undergoing PCI." SOURCE: The Lancet --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.