Fatal haemostatic complications due to thrombolytic therapy in patients falsely diagnosed as acute myocardial infarction.

This report describes the fate of two young men wrongly treated with thrombolysis for suspected myocardial infarction. Both had electrocardiographic changes upon admission. Correct diagnosis of aortic dissection and haemorrhagic pericarditis was obtained within a few hours, but due to the prolonged disturbance of haemostasis, appropriate therapy could not be instituted, and outcome was fatal for both patients. These cases underline the importance of rigid ST criteria, and procedures for neutralization of thrombolysis are proposed.