A significant clot is swiftly broken up with thrombolytic. This aids in resuming blood flow to the heart and guards against heart muscle harm. Thrombolytics can halt a heart attack that would otherwise be more severe or fatal. If you use a thrombolytic medication within 12 hours of the beginning of the heart attack, the results will be better.
Thrombolytic Therapy
Heart attacks and strokes are mainly caused by blood clotting, while thrombolytic therapy uses drugs (thrombolysis) to dissolve or fragment blood clots. By increasing blood flow, thrombolysis lessens damage to your body’s organs and tissues when clots occur.
If you experience an immediate blockage of normal blood flow, such as a heart attack, stroke, or blood clots in the lungs, in that case, medical professionals may utilize thrombolytic therapy as an emergency treatment (pulmonary embolism). To improve the likelihood of success, your doctor must begin these medications as soon as feasible. Additionally, peripheral arterial disease (PAD), deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and other disorders can all be treated with thrombolytic therapy to dissolve blood clots.
Heart Attack
Blood clots have the potential to obstruct cardiac arteries. When a portion of the heart muscle dies from a shortage of oxygen given by the blood, this might result in a heart attack. Thrombolytics play a significant role in dissolving the blood clot and resuming normal blood flow to the heart.
In most patients, the medication helps partially restore heart blood flow. However, there might still be a little muscle injury, and the blood flow might not be entirely normal. It could be necessary to continue treatment, such as cardiac catheterization with angioplasty and stenting.
To treat your heart attack, your doctor may decide to administer thrombolytic medication. Moreover, thrombolytic may also be used if any of the following other criteria apply;
- Age (older persons are at increased risk of problems)
- Sex
- Medical background (including your history of a previous heart attack, diabetes, low blood pressure, or increased heart rate)
In general, thrombolytic may not be prescribed if you have;
- An old head injury
- Bleeding issues
- Bloody ulcers
- Pregnancy
- A recent operation
- Using blood thinners like Coumadin
- Trauma
- Uncontrolled hypertension (severe)
Stroke:
Most strokes are brought on by blood clots that go to a brain blood vessel and obstruct blood flow to that region. Thrombolytics can be used to hasten the clot’s dissolution in such strokes (ischemic strokes). Stroke damage and disability can be reduced by administering thrombolytics within three hours of the onset of the first symptoms, based on;
- A brain CT scan to ensure that no bleeding occurs.
- Physical examination revealed a severe stroke
- History of your health
A clot-dissolving medication is typically not prescribed if you have one of the other health issues mentioned above, similar to heart attacks. Likewise, thrombolytics are not administered to the patient when a stroke involves brain bleeding. They could exacerbate bleeding, making the stroke worse.
Other Uses:
Thrombolytic drugs can also be used to treat the following conditions;
- Acute pulmonary embolism
- Clots in vascular catheters, such as dialysis catheters
Who needs Thrombolytic Therapy?
An individual might require thrombolytic treatment;
- If a blood clot suddenly blocks an artery or vein.
- If blood clots are brought on by DVT, pulmonary embolism (PE), or PAD has not been decreased by blood-thinning drugs (anticoagulants).
Thrombolytic Drugs
The principal thrombolytic drugs are;
- Streptokinase: This is the most frequently used thrombolytic drug globally, except in America.
- Urokinase: Urokinase is a medication that medical professionals may use to treat peripheral vascular clots (in the legs) and clots in catheters.
- Anistreplase: This thrombolytic drug is also known as the APSAC or anisoylated plasminogen streptokinase activator complex. It can function throughout your entire body since it targets all plasminogen, not only the ones connected to fibrin.
- Pro-urokinase: It is also known as SCU-PA or single-chain urokinase-type plasminogen activator.
- Alteplase (t-PA): Alteplase (t-PA) drug is frequently used for patients with strokes, pulmonary emboli, and cardiovascular.
- Reteplase (r-PA, an rt-PA deletion mutant): This thrombolytic medication acts more quickly than others.
- Tenecteplase (a triple combination mutant version of alteplase): This medication has a good track record and is frequently prescribed by healthcare professionals in North America and Europe. Additionally, the danger of bleeding is lower.
Although the pharmacodynamic characteristics of these drugs are not considerably different, their origin or functionality can be used to explain unique variations in their pharmacokinetics and adverse effects.
References:
- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/23345-thrombolytic-therapy
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/thrombolytic-drug
- https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007089.htm
