ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Prognostic importance of left ventricular

function after angioplasty or thrombolysis for acute myocardial infarction J.P.S. Henriques, M.J. de Boer, A.W.J. van 't Hof, J.C.A. Hoorntje, K. Miedema, J.P. Ottervanger, S. Reiffers, H. Suryapranata, F. Zijlstra

Objectives. To compare long-term clinical outcome after acute myocardial infarction treated with primary coronary angioplasty or thrombolytic therapy, and to study the determinants ofsurvival. Background. Primary coronary angioplasty results in a higher patency rate and a better short-term survival when compared with thrombolytic therapy, but so far limited information has been available regarding long-term clinical outcome. Methods. Patients with acute myocardial infarction (n=395) were randomised to treatment with either intravenous streptokinase or primary angioplasty, and were followed for up to eight years. Results. A total of 105 patients died, 42 patients in the primary coronary angioplasty group compared with 63 patients in the streptokinase group (p=0.03). Death and nonfatal reinfarction occurred in 53 patients in the angioplasty group, compared with 94 patients in the streptokinase group (p