Thrombolytics as effective as primary angioplasty and save $3,000/patient -- NEJM study.
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
PRIMARY ANGIOPLASTY 5.6% MORTALITY RATE IN MITI REGISTRY MORE THAN DOUBLE the 2.6% in-hospital mortality rate reported in the 1993 Primary Angioplasty in Myocardial Infarction (PAMI) study, Nathan Every, MD, University of Washington, Seattle, et al. report in a study published in the Oct. 24 New England Journal of Medicine. In a comparison of angioplasty to thrombolysis as the initial treatment for MI patients, Every et al. found thrombolysis preferable, since the treatment yielded equivalent mortality rates and $3,000-per-patient cost savings compared to angioplasty.