PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Becker, Richard C.
TI  - Recombinant t-PA and platelet activity
DP  - 1990 Sep 01
TA  - Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
PG  - 537--541
VI  - 57
IP  - 6
4099  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/57/6/537.short
4100  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/57/6/537.full
SO  - Cleve Clin J Med1990 Sep 01; 57
AB  - Platelet-rich coronary arterial occlusions are relatively resistant to thrombolysis with recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator, or rt-PA, while erythrocyte-rich thrombi are lysed at low doses. The combined administration of rt-PA with a platelet antagonist enhances thrombolysis and can prevent reocclusion, which suggests that platelet activation predominates during thrombus formation and after thrombolysis. In addition to direct effects on platelet activity, rt-PA also acts indirectly through generation of plasmin, which degrades fibrin.