Is Thrombolytic Therapy Effective in Elderly Patients? Bleeding?

As the population increases worldwide, the number of elderly patients who present with acute myo-cardial infarction (AMI) with ST-segment elevation will continue to grow. Thrombolytic therapy (TT) is applied in patients with AMI with ST-segment elevation and aged no more than 75 years. It is recommended percutaneous transluminal coro-nary angioplasty (PTCA) or by-pass surgery to elderly patients. For PTCA and by-pass surgery there has to be a prepared cardio-surgery medical team, which can be found in big medical hospitals. Patients with AMI with ST-segment elevation over 75 years, which has no TT applied, are with suspi-cious prognosis for longevity and quality of life. Along with its needed effects TT may cause some unwanted effects such as incidence of major (fatal) or minor bleeding.