Why the study?
What proportion of patients with suspected myocardial infarction are eligible for treatment with intravenous streptokinase?
What proportion of patients with suspected myocardial infarction are eligible for treatment with intravenous streptokinase?
Treatment with intravenous streptokinase may be applicable to only a small proportion of patients with suspected myocardial infarction due to strict inclusion criteria and contraindications.
Strict eligibility criteria limit streptokinase applicability to few suspected MI patients; leaves open whether relaxed criteria could safely broaden access.
Four hundred and three patients were considered for entry into a trial of intravenous streptokinase in suspected myocardial infarction. Three hundred and sixty seven (91%) were excluded. Two hundred and sixty (65%) did not meet the inclusion criteria and 45 of the remaining 143 (35%) patients had contraindications to thrombolysis. This left 98 (24%) patients who were suitable for thrombolysis and 42 of them were over 70 years, the upper age limit. Thus according to this trial protocol 56 (14%) patients were eligible for recruitment; 36 (9%) patients were finally randomised. These data suggest that treatment with intravenous streptokinase may be applicable to only a small proportion of patients with myocardial infarction.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Murray et al. (1987) studied this question.