ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION Reperfusion therapy is considered as the major treatment of acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and is associated with reduced mortality in STEMI patients (1). Antiplatelet therapy is also one pivotal therapy reducing the rates of death and vascular events in the setting of acute myocardial infarction where platelet activation and aggregation-consequences of coronary plaque rupture-represent the very first step in the chain reaction leading to occlusive coronary thrombus. Unfortunately there are two major drawbacks to the benefit of primary PCI for acute STEMI: first, the successful recanalization of the infarctrelated artery does not always result in adequate myocardial perfusion because of potential distal embolization of thrombi during PCI, and second, the transfer delay may reduce the benefit of primary PCI (2-4). Therefore, the early administration of powerful antiplatelet agents may be a solution to these drawbacks.