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Pre-hospital thrombolysis in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: a regional Australian experience

John K French, Derek P Chew, Richard W Harper and Philip EG Aylward
Med J Aust 2017; 206 (8): . || doi: 10.5694/mja16.01199
Published online: 1 May 2017

We commend Kahn and colleagues1 for publishing their data on the pre-hospital use of fibrinolysis and showing that the outcomes were similar to those treated by primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, we noted that the median first medical contact to device time for those receiving primary PCI was 130 minutes, and indeed > 75% of patients had longer than the 90 minutes recommended in the recent National Heart Foundation of Australia and Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand guidelines.2 Although there is still some uncertainty about acceptable time delays to PCI, these data suggest that even more individuals should be receiving pre-hospital thrombolysis. As an alternative, perhaps patients should be randomised in clinical trials that address the relative usefulness of these two reperfusion strategies in circumstances of likely moderately prolonged times to primary PCI. Moreover, among those patients undergoing pharmaco-invasive PCI, the dose of the fibrinolytic drugs used requires definition.3


  • 1 Liverpool Hospital, Sydney, NSW
  • 2 Flinders University, Adelaide, SA
  • 3 MonashHeart, Monash Health, Melbourne, VIC
  • 4 Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, SA


Correspondence: j.french@unsw.edu.au

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

  • 1. Khan AA, Williams T, Savage L, et al. Pre-hospital thrombolysis in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: a regional Australian experience. Med J Aust 2016; 205: 121-125. <MJA full text>
  • 2. Chew DP, Scott IA, Cullen L, et al. National Heart Foundation of Australia and Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand: Australian clinical guidelines for the management of acute coronary syndromes. Med J Aust 2016; 205: 128-133. <MJA full text>
  • 3. Henry TD, Armstrong PW. The choice is reperfusion therapy: but which one? JACC Cardiovasc Interv 2016; 9: 2021-2023.

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