Treatment of myocardial infarction and angina

Abstract

# Review underestimated the benefit of early thrombolysis {#article-title-2} EDITOR,—In their article on the treatment of myocardial infarction and angina John McMurray and Andrew Rankin perpetuate a serious error, underestimating the benefit of earlier thrombolysis in acute myocardial infarction.1 Their figure 1 shows the loss of benefit within five weeks to be 1.6 per 1000 patients per hour of delay and is reproduced from the overview by the Fibrinolytic Therapy Trialists' Collaborative Group of all randomised trials of more than 1000 patients.2 The graph shows the absolute reduction in mortality with thrombolytic treatment by delay from onset of symptoms to randomisation. The severity of infarction, however, is negatively related to the delay by the patient, which constitutes …