My question is what drug besides TPA is used to dissolve a blood clot in an emergency room?
There are several medications available today. In most larger hospitals that have interventional cardiologists and a cardiac cath lab, the patient will have direct opening of the narrowed coronary artery by the cardiologist using a balloon on the catheter, or with a stent, thereby reversing the heart attack and preventing it from recurring. In hospitals without that level of intervention, medications like TPA or it’s more popular smaller molecule form called TNK will be used to dissolve the clot blocking the artery at it’s narrowed, cholesterol plaque area, restoring blood flow to that portion of the heart, temporarily salvaging the heart muscle, and in effect, reversing the heart attack. Examples of medications like TPA and TNK are Retavase, streptokinase, urokinase, and others.
