The New England journal of medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Meta Analysis Clinical Trial
Prehospital thrombolytic therapy in patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction. The European Myocardial Infarction Project Group.
The efficacy of thrombolytic therapy for acute myocardial infarction depends partly on how soon after the onset of symptoms it is administered. We therefore studied the efficacy and safety of thrombolytic therapy administered before hospital admission and thrombolytic therapy administered after admission in patients with suspected myocardial infarction. ⋯ Prehospital thrombolytic therapy for patients with suspected myocardial infarction is both feasible and safe when administered by well-equipped, well-trained mobile emergency medical staff. Although such therapy appears to reduce mortality from cardiac causes, our data do not definitely establish that it reduces overall mortality.