Open infarct artery, late potentials, and other prognostic factors in patients after acute myocardial infarction in the thrombolytic era. A prospective trial.

Successful reperfusion of the infarct-related artery in patients with acute myocardial infarction has been shown to reduce in-hospital as well as 1-year mortality. Besides the thrombolysis-induced myocardial salvage, there is increasing evidence that an open infarct-related artery results in increased electrical stability of the heart and that this effect is at least in part responsible for the favorable long-term outcome of these patients. The exact incidence of arrhythmic events during the first year after myocardial infarction and the predictive value of different risk factors for these complications, however, have not been determined in patients in the thrombolytic era.