Johns Hopkins Health Alerts | Heart Health | Increasing The Odds Of Surviving A Heart Attack

• Controlled studies show that clot-dissolving therapy after a heart attack can restore blood flow through the blocked artery, reduce the amount of damage to the heart muscle, and improve survival after a heart attack in many patients.

When a diagnosis of a heart attack is made early, usually within 12 hours of the onset of symptoms, an injection of streptokinase or tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) will often open the blocked coronary artery by dissolving the blood clot that is impeding the flow of blood.

Controlled studies show that such thrombolytic (clot-dissolving) therapy after a heart attack can restore blood flow through the blocked artery, reduce the amount of damage to the heart muscle, and improve survival after a heart attack in many patients.

Drawbacks of thrombolytic therapy after a heart attack include a failure to open the artery in about 20% of patients and serious bleeding, especially in the brain, in less than 5% of patients. If thrombolytic therapy after a heart attack fails to reopen the blocked artery, emergency angioplasty or bypass surgery may be carried out.

Aspirin and intravenous heparin are usually administered after thrombolytic therapy to reduce the likelihood of further clot formation. Heparin is generally continued for 24 to 48 hours, and a daily aspirin is taken indefinitely thereafter.

Johns Hopkins Health Alerts | Heart Health | Increasing The Odds Of Surviving A Heart Attack