Thrombolytic Therapy

Excerpt

The recent report in this journal of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Development Conference on the use of thrombolytic therapy (1) and the accompanying editorial note by Victor Marder (2) have suggested that fibrinolytic agents may not be used often enough. Dr. Marder argues that the hazards of fibrinolytic agents have been misinterpreted and quotes the hematology section of the Medical Knowledge Self-Assessment Program (MKSAP) V Syllabus (3), which states that the use of fibrinolytic agents "carries a 40% to 50% risk of serious hemorrhage." As the chairman of the MKSAP V committee that wrote the hematology section