Intracoronary versus intravenous streptokinase in acute myocardial infarction

To assess the relative efficacy of coronary thrombolysis using intracoronary versus intravenous streptokinase, 32 patients with acute myocardial infarction were randomly assigned to receive intracoronary (n = 17) and intravenous streptokinase (n = 15). All patients underwent selective coronary arteriography before and after administration of streptokinase by either route within 4 hours of the onset of symptoms. Intravenous streptokinase was given as 750,000 units over 30 minutes, while a mean dose of 180,000 units was required for thrombolysis in the group having intracoronary delivery. Recanalization occurred in 71.4% (10 of 14) of patients receiving streptokinase, by the intracoronary group in contrast to only 25% of patients (3 of 12) who received the drug intravenously (P less than 0.05). Spontaneous thrombolysis was seen in 17.6% and 20% of the patients in the groups having intracoronary and intravenous delivery, respectively. Bleeding complications were few in both groups. Thus, when baseline coronary arteriography is performed, recanalization with intracoronary streptokinase is more effective in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction than intravenous streptokinase.