Southern

Regional Medical Center participated in a clinical trial

that led to recent approval of a revolutionary new

"clot-busting" medication, or thrombolytic,

called TNKase.

Ronald

Freireich MD, a cardiologist at Southern Regional and

Southern Heart Specialists, enrolled heart attack

patients in ASSENT 2 (Assessment of the Safety and

Efficacy of New Thrombolytic agent), a large,

international study that contributed important data about

TNKase. The entire study included approximately 17,000

patients from 29 countries. Southern Regional was the

only hospital in the metro Atlanta area to take part in

this trial.

The trial

compared TNKase with Activase (Alteplase, recombinant),

commonly known as "t-PA," a widely-used

medication that has been given to more than one million

heart attack patients over the last decade, and is the

most widely-used thrombolytic for heart attack.

"This

trial proves TNKase superior in `clot-busting' without a

significant increase in complications such as bleeding

and stroke," said Dr. Freireich.

Several

large, worldwide studies have determined that lifesaving

heart attack therapies are most beneficial to patients

when initiated early in the course of a heart attack.

While "clot-buster" agents have revolutionized

the treatment of heart attack since their introduction in

the late 1980s, many older agents do not allow for fast

administration, requiring multiple injections or lengthy

infusion through IV tubes. TNKase is the first

"clot-buster" administered over five seconds in

a single dose.

A heart

attack is caused when a blood clot obstructs a coronary

artery supplying blood to the heart. This causes an

inadequate flow of oxygenated and nutrient-enriched blood

and results in the death of a portion of the heart

muscle.

Heart

attacks strike more than 1.1 million people in the United

States and cause nearly 500,000 deaths each year. More

than 250,000 people die from heart attacks within one

hour of the onset of symptoms and before ever reaching a

hospital.

This is why

it is important to recognize and respond to the symptoms

of a heart attack, which may include uncomfortable

pressure, fullness, squeezing or pain in the center of

the chest that last for more than a few minutes; pain

spreading to the shoulders, neck and arms; and chest

discomfort with lightheadedness, fainting, sweating,

nausea or shortness of breath.

More

important than treating heart attacks, says Dr.

Freireich, is to prevent them from occurring.

"Scheduling

regular checkups with your doctor, understanding what

your cholesterol and blood pressure is so it can be

treated if necessary, not smoking, cutting down on salt,

and staying active are things everyone can do, not only

to avoid heart attack, but to stay healthy in

general," he added.