TY - JOUR T1 - Early administration of thrombolysis can prevent myocardial necrosis: time is myocardium JF - Emergency Medicine Journal JO - Emerg Med J SP - 541 LP - 542 DO - 10.1136/emj.2008.068767 VL - 26 IS - 7 AU - A Suri AU - S Ahsan AU - J Lim AU - T-P Cusack AU - T P Chua AU - E W Leatham Y1 - 2009/07/01 UR - http://emj.bmj.com/content/26/7/541.abstract N2 - A case is presented in which a 66-year-old man received thrombolysis for an acute ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) within 6 minutes of developing chest pain. An ECG performed 10 minutes after thrombolysis showed complete resolution of the ST segment elevation and showed no other abnormality. An echocardiogram showed normal left ventricular function and there was no detectable myocardial necrosis, as evidenced by two negative troponin assays. The case clearly reinforces the benefits of the rapid delivery of thrombolysis when appropriate for patients with STEMI. Clinicians need to be aware of the benefits of early thrombolysis as laid out in the national service framework. Evidence for the early administration of thrombolysis, data from the Myocardial Infarction National Audit Project and the future with regard to improving thrombolysis times are discussed. ER -