EDITORIAL Reperfusion of Nonviable Myocardium: Lessons from Thrombolytic Therapy Becker RC. Reperfusion of nonviable myocardium: lessons from

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is an interna-tional health problem of unparalleled proportion; it is responsible for more than 500,000 deaths and 1 million hospital admissions annually in the United States alone. For the past 2 decades, efforts have been devoted to the development of surgical, me-chanical, and pharmacological techniques designed to restore myocardial blood flow promptly, and thereby limit infarct size, preserve ventricular func-tion, and improve patient survival. Although emer-gent coronary artery bypass grafting and percutane-ous transluminal coronary angioplasty are capable of restoring blood flow, the availability and appli-cability of intravenous thrombolytic agents have made thrombolytic therapy the treatment of choic