Before the 80’s, the treatment of patients with ST–segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) had as main goals the control of pain, arrhythmia and reduction of cardiac work, aiming to limit the extent of myocardial necrosis. These measures were partially effective, but the morbidity and mortality of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remained high. From the findings of Dewood, angiographically showing the presence of coronary occlusion by a thrombus in the culprit artery of the STEMI, strategies of reperfusion have emerged both […]

Many ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients seek care in hospitals without percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) capability and cannot be submitted to PCI within the guideline-recommended timelines, and, instead, they are often submitted to fibrinolysis as the initial reperfusion therapy. Rapid, simple and readily available bedside measures are of utmost importance for timely assessment of the efficacy of reperfusion therapy early after fibrinolysis in acute STEMI, in order to immediately identify the ones who require rescue PCI., In an editorial […]