ABSTRACT
Many factors have contributed to the decline in cardiovascular-related mortality over the past quarter century, including lifestyle modifications, the development of multiple new drug categories, the introduction and subsequent dramatic improvements in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), cardiac transplantation, and advances in electrophysiology and implantable devices. One of the more important new treatments is reperfusion therapy for patients with evolving acute myocardial infarction (AMI), which has now become the standard of care for these individuals. This chapter will review selected major developments in historical perspective that led to the widespread application of pharmacological reperfusion therapy for the treatment of AMI (Fig. 2.1).
