PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - D T Stephenson AU - J W Wardrope AU - S W Goodacre TI - Is prehospital thrombolysis for acute myocardial infarction warranted in the urban setting? The case against AID - 10.1136/emj.19.5.444 DP - 2002 Sep 01 TA - Emergency Medicine Journal PG - 444--447 VI - 19 IP - 5 4099 - http://emj.bmj.com/content/19/5/444.short 4100 - http://emj.bmj.com/content/19/5/444.full SO - Emerg Med J2002 Sep 01; 19 AB - This paper forms the second part of the debate on prehospital thrombolysis (PHT). It is argued that large scale studies have failed to show a benefit for PHT, even when the time saved over conventional treatment was considerably greater than would be the case in the UK urban setting. In practice, a relatively small proportion of the total population receiving thrombolysis would receive PHT. Other strategies to reduce time to thrombolysis can benefit all patients and are likely to be more cost effective and safer.