Confirmation that heparin is an alternative means of promoting early reperfusion.
BACKGROUND
New strategies to increase coronary patency rate before primary angioplasty are under discussion. We tested the hypothesis that use of a high dose of a standard heparin bolus could achieve an acceptable rate of re-opening occluded infarct-related arteries thus providing an alternative to chemical thrombolysis before admission of the patient to hospital, and a pretreatment for primary angioplasty.


METHODS
Forty-eight patients who presented within 12 h of acute myocardial infarction with ST segment elevation were assigned randomly to groups to receive aspirin (200 mg orally) and high-dose standard heparin 300 U/kg as an intravenous bolus (n = 25), or aspirin and placebo bolus (n = 23). Thereafter, all patients underwent coronary arteriography to assess their suitability for primary angioplasty.


RESULTS
The high-dose heparin group had greater patency rate (Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction grade 2 or 3 flow in the infarct-related artery) than the placebo group (52% compared with 13%, P = 0.006). Hemorrhages related to the puncture site that required blood transfusion occurred in two of 25 and in one of 23 patients in the high-dose heparin and placebo groups, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study suggests that high-dose standard heparin does have a thrombolytic action when administered as an intravenous bolus.
Braga
J C
JC
Coronary Care Unit, Hospital Português and Fundação Bahiana de Cardiologia, Salvador, Brazil.
Esteves
F P
FP
Esteves
J P
JP
Latado
A L
AL
Godinho
A G
AG
Azevedo Júnior
A
A
Brito
J C
JC
Silva
P R
PR
Teixeira
M S
MS
Souza
V P
VP
Rabelo Júnior
A
A
Rocha
M S
MS
D000368:Aged; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary; D001241:Aspirin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006493:Heparin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000188:drug therapy; D015425:Myocardial Reperfusion / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors
D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents; D006493:Heparin; D001241:Aspirin