Use of Clot Dissolvers in Treating Heart Attack

QUESTION: Is there such a thing as a "clot dissolver"? Would it be a good
medicine to use if the patient was supposed to be having a heart attack? Is
it very expensive?
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ANSWER: Your questions almost tell me the story, which you didn't include in
your letter, but I am happy to provide this information to you. Yes, there
are such medications, used, in your case I imagine, in the early hours
following a heart attack. Technically a heart attack occurs when one or more
arteries which feed blood to the heart become blocked by a blood clot. The
blood can no longer reach the heart muscle, and the cells die from lack of
oxygen and nutrition. It is this dying process which provokes the pain of the
heart attack. Using medications called "thrombolytics" or clot dissolvers,
physicians attempt to break down that blockage and restore the flow of blood
to the heart muscle. The sooner the medication is administered after the
blockage, the less chance there is of damage to the heart muscle, and the size
of the damaged area my be reduced. This is a relatively new method of
treating new heart attacks and the rules are changing as time goes on.
Although originally used only in the first few hours after the attack, the
time limit is growing longer and longer as we find that patients may benefit
from the medication as late as 6 to 8 hours later. And yes, it may be very
expensive. The latest development in this area is a medication called a
tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) which can effectively dissolve clots, but
may cost as more than $2,000 for a single injection.