Early administration of reteplase plus abciximab vs abciximab alone in patients with acute myocardial infarction referred for percutaneous coronary intervention: a randomized controlled trial.

Context: The optimal pharmacological strategy for bridging the delay between admission and performance of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) is not known.

Objective: To assess whether early administration of reteplase plus abciximab produces better results compared with abciximab alone in patients with acute MI referred for PCI.

Design, Setting, And Patients: Open-label, randomized controlled study conducted from May 3, 2001, through June 2, 2003, of 253 patients who were admitted to 13 community hospitals without catheterization facilities (n = 186) and to 5 hospitals with catheterization facilities (n = 67), with the diagnosis of an ST-segment elevation acute MI within 12 hours from onset of symptoms.