ANGIOPLASTY OR FIBRINOLYSIS FOR ACUTE MI - THE GUSTO IIB STUDY

The angioplasty substudy of the GUSTO IIb trial confirmed that the Sho rt-term results of primary angioplasty are better than those of fibrin olytic therapy in patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI). In t he largest and most rigorous study of this topic performed to date, 9. 6% of patients who underwent primary angioplasty either died or suffer ed a disabling stroke or another myocardial infarction within 30 days, compared with 13.7% of patients who received fibrinolytic therapy, fo r an odds ratio of 0.67 (P = .033), This difference was less than In p revious studies, possibly in part because fibrinolytic therapy has imp roved, The findings underscore the importance of promptly restoring co mplete, brisk, antegrade flow in the infarct-related artery, regardles s of what treatment is used.