However, the blood flow may not be completely normal and there may still be a small amount of muscle damaged. The drug restores some blood flow to the heart in most people. But the sooner treatment begins, the better the results. Outcomes are better if you receive a thrombolytic drug within 12 hours after the heart attack starts.
Thrombolytics can stop a heart attack that would otherwise be larger or potentially deadly. This helps restart blood flow to the heart and helps prevent damage to the heart muscle. Thrombolytics work by dissolving a major clot quickly. This can cause a heart attack, when part of the heart muscle dies due to a lack of oxygen being delivered by the blood. These drugs have undergone various modifications to amplify their pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties, especially to prolong their short half-life in the circulation and further increase their fibrin specificity, to prevent an unwanted fibrinolytic state.Ī blood clot can block the arteries to the heart. Examples of these drugs include alteplase, reteplase, and tenecteplase. Recombinant biotechnology has allowed tissue plasminogen activator to be manufactured in labs, and these synthetic products are called recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA). Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) primary function includes catalyzing the conversion of plasminogen to plasmin, the primary enzyme involved in dissolving blood clots. Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is classified as a serine protease (enzymes that cleave peptide bonds in proteins) and is thus one of the essential components of the dissolution of blood clots. You will also be treated for the underlying condition which caused the thrombus (blood clot), which may be a heart rhythm disorder or a small blood clot caused by deep venous thrombosis (DVT). You will probably also need medication to prevent blood clots forming as well as a thrombectomy, for which you will be under strict observation for a 24-48 hours with several angiographic follow ups. Restricted blood flow leads to acute symptoms of pain, a lack of pulse, paleness, paresthesia (when a limb ‘falls asleep’) and paralysis, as well as the possibility of permanent complications such as tissue necrosis (the death of tissue cells in your body). Thrombolysis is performed to remove the blood clot and to prevent the vein or artery from becoming permanently blocked and restricting blood flow to a limb or organ. Ideally, you should receive thrombolytic medicines within the first 30 minutes after arriving at the hospital for treatment. The sooner treatment with thrombolytics begins, the better the chance for a good outcome. Heart attacks and strokes are medical emergencies. The most commonly used drug for thrombolytic therapy is tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), but other drugs can do the same thing. Thrombolytic medicines are approved for the emergency treatment of stroke and heart attack. Thrombolysis can also be used to treat blood clots in organs such as the liver or kidney, as well as treating restricted blood flow in the small intestine due to inflammation or an injury, massive pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in main artery of a lung) or stroke. Thrombolysis is most commonly performed to treat a blood clot in the lower limbs, which causes acute limb ischemia (restricted blood flow in the affected limb), leading to pain in affected area. The medications used in thrombolysis are called thrombolytic agents. Thrombolysis is a procedure which uses drugs to break up or dissolve blood clots.